Calling You

Saturday night I was sitting in my room, reading The Undaunted (because my date had mentioned it, and I knew that I had it somewhere in my house). Well, my brother texted me something about meeting with Bro. Jones before church. So, I walked out of my room, and into the one next to me, and told him that I could. Then I asked him why I would be meeting with him, and he told me that it was probably for a calling. Well, yesterday in church I was called as a member of the FHE committee. I'm not sure what this means for my attendance FHE-wise. But I'm hoping I'm not expected to go. I mean, I'll probably make it to one in the ward eventually... But from what I gather, it basically just involves planning the activities. And a meeting every fast sunday. Which I can deal with. The thing I'm worried about is this is preventing me from being a drifter. I never really drift during the school year, but I like the option. It makes me feel more free. And it also makes me feel less committed to a ward. But I guess now I am committed to the ward. Great. It will turn out fine, I know. I just needed to complain, and blogs are great for that. =) And this also is helping me keep my mind off my presentation for English in three hours. Which I am so nervous about, because I can't do public speaking. Yay....

Disney Music = Optimistic Me

So how do I concentrate while writing two essays in one night, and doing a PowerPoint presentation on top of that? I create a Pandora station of just Disney songs. That's right, I'm just awesome like that. Although I'm not sure how great my essays turned out. But who cares. I have two more days of classes. And then a chemistry final on Thursday. And then I'm DONE! For nearly six weeks or something. Its AH MAZE ING. Almost like the institute ball. Which was great, because it kept my mind off of school for like nearly eight hours. Yay! But what's up for this break? Well, there is definitely some being lazy in there- no doubt. But I'm set on starting to run and bike. Regularly. Ewww. But its okay, after the first week it will all be good. And I have a break in there where I am going to THATCHER! To visit HEATHER! I love that girl. And the town is okay too. I actually have a thing for small towns. Although apparently there isn't anything to do in Snowflake. Good thing I never go stay there with the intent of finding something to do, right? I thought so too.

A Ball Of a Time

So, on Monday, Rachael basically told me that she had a guy that she wanted me to go to the Institute Ball with. I agreed, as now that I was going Xochil would have to go because of a deal we had (and it also fulfilled another half of my deal, which I'm very excited about). So basically, I knew nothing about this guy. Like at all. Which kind of made me nervous, as the ball was that Friday. No clue how old he was, anything. The week went on though, and by Wednesday, we at least were texting each other. Still hadn't met. Then, while with Rachael, she brought me down to one part of the institute and I met him. Talked to him for a whole couple of minutes (Wednesday I also bought my dress). Thursday, I went with Xochil and we bought her dress. Then Friday came, I still had no clue what the plan was. But it was all worked out, and he picked me up at six that night (dinner started at six thirty). The dinner was slightly awkward, and the food was not near as good as I hoped it would be. Good thing nearly all of the people at our table had In n Out earlier that day (huge coincidence). But eventually, as I got to know the guy, it became slightly less awkward (Oh, and I saw Tim at the dinner... Wasn't expecting that). The dance lasted until 11, but slightly before that we went and got frozen yogurt with Rachael, her date, and a large group of people. That was fun. Then we decided to head over to Rachael's to hang out, and that we would race there. Didn't turn out so well, as we got pulled over (not for speeding though). Didn't get a ticket though, which makes it all good. At Rachael's, we played some weird game, and attempted a game of Truth or Dare, but we were all so tired it didn't work out so well. Eventually, we left and all went back home. Which means might night ended around one thirty in the morning. It was a long night. But fun. I'm glad that I went.

Birthday Week!

Ah! I haven't posted on here in forever.

Yeah, I know. Its been way long. But I bet you were slightly relieved that I wasn't ranting about something that just engrossed you so much that you had to keep reading, even though you didn't really want to.

Yeah, I've got you down spot. Like a dalmatian.

But what have I been doing the last few weeks that I haven't been blogging? Well this may surprise you, but I've been up to pretty much nothing. As in Not-a-thing.

I mean, I know I did some stuff. I just can't remember what, up until like yesterday. Oh, and my parents went out of town during some of that time, which was the bomb dot com. But I really did nothing while they were gone. I'm such a lame college student sometimes.

Yesterday I did have very much fun though. I hung out with Amber girl and we got lots of things done on the bridal shower end of things. That's right, we're awesome. Pretty much sums it up. And then that night I went to an ep release concert for Catherine Papworth, and that girl is amazing! I mean, I knew she was, but come on! After that, I just hung out and talked with the awesome Hillary. She's back from BYU for Thanksgiving. Yessss.

Oh, and this upcoming week will be fun. First we have Thanksgiving, and then mah birthday!

Booyah!

Hmm...

When people first meet me, they generally think that I hate them. I don't really know why, its just the impression that I give off. I think that it might be due to my shyness. I keep to myself. And also, when I hang out with a good friend and a new person, I don't really talk to the other person all that much. Just know that its not because I hate you. I just haven't decided if I want to extend to effort to be good friends yet. I strongly believe that friendship is a two way street. And when I decide to be friends with someone, I put effort into it. And if I don't, its not because I hate you. By any means. Its just me being shy, most of the time. Because I am extremely shy. And that's my post.

My Thoughts

Alright, so Wednesday in institute Eric asked me what has built my testimony most, and what has gotten me to the point at which I am now. So, my answer was simple: my experience with cancer, and the leadership positions I've held in the church. But basically, with the cancer thing, the underlying theme was that when you go through hell, you realize who you really are. Sometimes I forget this lesson, I must admit. But I look back at my life, and I've always fixed who I am. Readjusted. Got back to who I really am. Me, in the truest form. And I've discovered that when you reach the hardest parts in your life, you can't give up. You have to have the attitude that there will only be positive outcomes. Which is hard, I must admit, as I find myself as being sort of a pessimist a lot of the time. But with a positive attitude, everything just seems to turn out better. I don't know why- but it does.

So, the song that came up during the conversation was, obviously, "If You're Going Through Hell" by Rodney Atkins. Great song, great moral to it, actually. And a great fiddle part to it that I want to learn. And also, I've realized that I've been slacking on a lot of things lately. I used to just go sit on the temple grounds and read the scriptures on Sunday afternoons... And now that the weather's nice again, I have no excuse not to. Basically, the conversation was really actually an eye opener. So I am resolving to be better. Yay!

Oh, and here's the song:

My Life

So, the truth about my life, all condensed into one blog post, and separated into different subjects.

First off, college. Of course.

Its a huge part of my life, I'll admit it. And I'm kinda glad that I went to ASU and not, say, BYU. But thats only based off of everyone's reactions to the snow. Even though, in general, I like snow. NAU would have been fun, but I would have missed so many people here in Mesa. Like Xochil, Paige, Taylor, Tialene (even though I never see her), my brothers even. And I know I would have missed my dog. But this isn't really about college, just the location where I would have lived.

But what about college? It basically includes me waking up early, going to institute in the morning, and then large gaps of time, and not getting back home until the late afternoon. Which is so not ideal. But I'm planning on fixing that in the coming semesters. Less huge multi-hour gaps, more focused towards the morning. The first half of the day, so I can do stuff at night. Which I can't during the week right now, as all my time at home is dedicated to sleep or homework. Oh how fun.

The work load? Not that much, generally. But there are certain things that culminate together to cause grief in my life. Like essays and chemistry tests. Ew. They just put a damper on life. You get me, right? I did quite enjoy writing my last essay though. It was about how facebook was a drug. Other than those things, I feel like I should be working more, right? Everyone else around me is? Or do they just look like it? Or perhaps they are just in MUCH harder courses. Who knows.

Now, the next subject, my social life.

What do I do during those insanely large gaps at college? It depends on the day. Generally, I try to keep to myself, because I've discovered that people are kind of weird here... But I have met some cool people during them, who I see on a regular basis now, because their breaks coincide with mine. And on Tuesday Morning, I hang with Xochil most of the time, where we have fun adventures. Same with Thursdays. But Tuesdays afternoons, I occasionally hang out with a girl from my lab group. She's nice, and fun. Fridays are my day for randomness. I do a variety of things on Fridays. I've gone to Thatcher, hung out with Alisha, Whitney, just random people. This Friday I'm going flower shopping (Yay!). Saturdays are also for randomness. This is when things such as pumpkin fights, and random wondering occurs.

But in general, my social interactions are random. And I'll leave it at that.

And this:

And a question: Is it wrong for me to disapprove of someone, even if I have a very limited knowledge of them?

Pumpkin-ee

Alright, so I haven't posted on this thing for almost a week.

Gasp.

I know, I know, all one of you is had a heart attack thinking that I was going to go back into the vast world of non-blogging and never come back. But that didn't happen, so you can relax.

In the last post, I mentioned a friend who I thought was engaged. She is. Just so that you all know that one of my many friends' is engaged. Actually, a couple of them. But one of the younger ones.

Other than that, my week wasn't very eventful until yesterday. But it was oh so much fun. Xochil came to institute yet again (Yay!) and that was entertaining. Ended with Pig Girl, the Superhero. Because that's just how cool we are. Then we went to downtown, wearing our skirts because we decided to dress up that day. Then after we were down there for awhile, we went back to tempe, and got there about 10 or 15 minutes before lunch. There we saw stephen, and had an amazing dollar lunch. I also saw Brittany Farnsworth there, which was awesome. She's such a cute girl. Oh! and I gave Rachael a ride to school that morning.

But anyways, after lunch we headed to the mall, where we had an interesting conversation which involved yelling "take it off! take it off now!" at a stoplight, and getting some notice from other cars. But we ate pretzels, and then we walked around the mall and went to the crazy pink store (Deb), and the the smelly store (Bath and Body Works) where I preceded to smear lots of body butter on Cheese. =) It was awesome. After that, we were headed out of the mall when we passed Forever 21, and I said I loved that store and wanted to go in there but couldn't because I would buy something. Ended up going in there and buying something.

After the mall, we went searching for a pumpkin patch to buy pumpkins (0bviously) for the carving party that we are having tomorrow night. After some misdirections received by Xochil, we finally made it to an awesome one. (Oh, and remember we are wearing skirts and looking cute during all of this) We bought a bunch of pumpkins (eight, including 3 giant ones). We then manipulated them so that they would fit in my Jeep (way fun). Then the really giant one kept rolling around, and its now known as the troubled child. And then we stopped by Cheese's car and transfered the pumpkins in there. All in all, it was a pretty darn good day. =)

And tomorrow we get to carve the pumpkins. Boo yah!

Lost Sleep

So, earlier tonight, my friend texted me. It indicated that she was engaged. But I can't be sure, because she said she would explain in the morning. She never answered yes or no. And its bugging me. Like A LOT. I mean, my friend that is younger than me can't be engaged. WTF?! Its just plain crazy. And now I really want to know for sure or not if its real. But I have to wait for morning for that.

Like I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Pffft.

Phone Races

Today, I proved that just because I'm in college, does not mean I'm mature. It just is you, in a different location. Which is great. The proof?

I spent a good part of the morning having what are now called "phone races," affectionately named by Cheese and I. Basically, it consists of several different methods of racing your phones. Sounds dumb, right? But it's WAY fun.

How did they come to be? Well, we were sitting outside panda, at a table, waiting for it to open. I soon discovered that if I hit the table, Xochil's phone would bounce, and start making its way toward to end of the table. This eventually degraded into us seeing, if we placed the phones in the middle of the table, who's would win. Mine always won the table races. Later, when were were back at the institute, we decided to see who could, when lying down on the carpet, slide their phone the farthest. It was so much fun!

Try it sometime. But remember, you got the idea from me. ;)

(Disclaimer: if your phone breaks... Don't blame me. Just try to not go racing it into a wall or something.)

Amazingness

So basically, this past weekend was awesome.

Amazing. I had so much fun, visiting so many people that I hadn't seen in too long. And just acting plain stupid. But of course I was doing that. It is my life, is it not? I could go through and describe just why the weekend was so wonderful, but I won't. That would take to long. And its not such an easy topic to explain... Mostly because I did so much, that I don't remember the order, or even everything anymore. The point is though, I hope that I have a weekend like this again sometime soon.

Plain White T's - "It's So Easy"

It's So Easy

"Tell me what you want from me

and I will do my best to please.

Pleasing's all I ever do

'cause they all expect me to

and everybody thinks I'm strong.

But they don't know what's going on.

They don't know what's on my mind.

I fall behind...

Tell me to be what they want me to be.

Everybody thinks that it's so easy.

Sometimes it seems like there's two sides of me.

Everybody thinks it's so easy being me.

Tell me what you want to know

and I will do my best to show

everything you ever need.

Don't be concerned with me

'cause everybody thinks I'm fine.

But they don't even to take they time to find out who I really am.

They don't understand.

Tell me to be what they want me to be.

Everybody thinks that it's so easy,

sometimes it seems like there's two sides of me.

Everybody thinks it's so easy being me.

Well tell me what to be

and don't pretend to care when you're not even there.

Think that it's so easy.

Tell me to be what they want me to be.

Everybody thinks that it's so easy,

sometimes it seems like there's two sides of me.

Everybody thinks that it's so easy

tell me to be

everybody thinks that it's so easy,

sometimes it seems,

everybody thinks it's so easy being me."

Arizona Storms

So the last couple of days have been pretty interesting in terms of weather. Especially for this time of year in Arizona. Or Arizona at all. It all started on Monday, when I mentioned that it looked like a storm was coming. Well, that storm ended up being really big. And then a couple of other showers came here and there after that. Tuesday morning I woke up, and it looked pretty clear. Or like it was clearing up, and the storms were leaving. Until it started to rain, AGAIN. There were several large storms on Tuesday. And hail. Lots of hail. Some places had golfball sized hail. We got about quarter (a round, ball like, quarter) sized hail at night. But when I got home from school on Tuesday, after an eventful ride home in a huge thunderstorm that closed the freeways because some of them flooded, I found a grapefruit tree in our backyard had been blown over. Quite surprising.

Now today, there are a few clouds left in the sky. Not sure if any rain will come of them. The most commotion is in the Flagstaff area, where there are tornadoes. Tornadoes. In Arizona.

Woo!

There are only ten more weeks until finals. Which is ah-some. It means that this semester is nearly halfway over. So I'm a twelfth of the way through my bachelor's degree. And a twentieth of the way done with my higher education. Booyah! And the best part is, completing my bachelor's degree in three years is totally possible! And I'll never have to take more than 17 credits a semester, or summer session! Thank you AP and Dual Enrollment classes! They saved me from having to take an extra year of school. Anyone who is questioning their worthwhileness, TAKE THEM! The little, if any, amount of extra work in high school is so worth it. So so so worth it.

So right now, I'm sitting in the institute, with nothing to do. I didn't bring my laptop (this will be posted later tonight, because of this), which means no internet connection or games to pass the time. And beyond that, I forgot my headphones, so I can't even listen to music. Ah! It will be the death of me. An hour and a half more to go... Although a storm has popped up in that time. Hopefully it will be fun! And cool down this horrid hot place.

Argh... So my phone just totally restarted itself in the middle of a text message. I am so fed up with this phone. Its even worse than the last one. I just need to get a new phone altogether. But all of the good ones require that dumb data pack. And I can't afford to pay more. For features that I will never actually use. So dumb. Stupid money making scheme. :/

Lightrail Adventures

So today, I was riding on the lightrail, heading to downtown Phoenix with Cheese. And a crazy guy got on the train, which isn't an out of the ordinary experience. Except he sat down across the aisle from us, and asked if we had a dollar. Then he said some crap about Britney Spears. And we tuned out, just thinking he was the usual crazy. And then he said that he was going to kill us. At first I thought he was joking, and then he started rambling again. We went to go get off the train, but he reached into his bag and told us not to move. So we didn't. Sad thing is, there were plenty of people around us on the train at this point. And they did nothing. Nothing. So crazy dude that smelt bad started asking us if we knew Jesus. And he said that he would like us, because we were young. This would be our last day alive. And he kept going on about that for a while, and we were sitting there freaking out. He asked us if there was anyone that we wanted to say goodbye to, and Cheese looked at him and said "No. Do you?" I love her! lol. And then he rambled on some more, and started freaking us out more, getting more and more creepy. We asked what he wanted, and he said a dollar. Cheese said she didn't have one, that she barely had enough to eat (hahah). Then she said she might have 25 cents, and she gave it to him. Then the guy looked at me. Luckily, the guy in front of me gave him a dollar and told him to "Get the F of the train, and to leave us alone." And he got off the train. So thankful for that guy. We asked him if we could pay him back, but he said no. So thankful for him. And that Cheese was with me. And that I'm alive. And I really hate that guy.

And then, after we got back to Tempe, we went and got a dollar lunch at the institute with our money. =)

Scrapbook

So, this morning, randomly, I had the feeling that I should start scrapbooking again. Weird, huh? Especially because it takes way too much concentration for me, and I am bound to get way frustrated. But I think I am going to act on it, because there are a lot of things that have happened lately (most of which I've posted on this blog) that I want to record, along with some things that happened like a year or two ago. But I always want to have them recorded. Like...

• my trip to china
• graduation
• my trip to new york
• all the adventures with the twins
• my visits to Heather in Thatcher. =)

Sure, they are on facebook in the photo albums... But what if something happens where they all just disappear. And then my computer crashes. Horribleness. I wouldn't have any pictures. So I think I'm going to start scrapbooking. Yeah.

Tired and Orange

Two words can describe me right now. Tired, and orange. But the second is only caused by a shirt that I am wearing... So that doesn't need to be explained all that much. Other than its bright orange. Really, really bright orange. As for the tired... That's from a long weekend, and just a long semester, with not enough sleep involved in it. Needless to say, I am going to arrange my schedule much better next semester. I'll be taking more credits, but hopefully be here less often, allowing for more SLEEP. The wonderful thing. And on top of this, I'm either going to take two days at polytechnic, or two full days at the downtown campus. No more of this classes on two campuses on one day. Except for the rest of this semester, that is. But come on, its almost October (which makes me feel better about the orange)... Which means then there will be November, and just a tid bit of December! Yay!!! Maybe like 11 weeks left of school... Maybe 12. I don't know when the semester ends. But I can't wait until it does. =)

learn-age

Some things that I've learned since I started college nearly a month ago (and if you don't want to read the list... The post below is probably better):

• its not something to stress about wondering if it will be harder than high school, unless you have really hard classes...
• it doesn't matter what college you go to, as long as you have friends near by.
• there is A LOT of extra time when you space your classes like I did. Don't be afraid to put classes closer together. Unless one is in tempe and one is in downtown... Then leave at least 50 minutes.
• take institute- its so much better than seminary.
• if you go to ASU, and you plan to park in the institute parking garage on tuesday / thurday, get there before nine... it fills up quickly.
• if you are going to be taking the light rail more than once in a blue moon, its probably worth it to buy the U-Pass. 80 bucks gets you a whole school year of basically unlimited access to the public transportation system. Even the buses.
• college is way expensive
• there are a ton of cool people at the institute, all of them are generally friendly too.
• don't count out people who aren't of your religion. They are awesome.
• having a laptop is nice, although not necessary. If I didn't have it, I would just sit at the institute for five hours almost everyday with NOTHING to do. Other than talk to people, of course.
• talk to people, don't be anti-social.
• be happy!
• get plenty of sleep on the weekends. You wont get much during the week.
• read your tests carefully so you don't make stupid mistakes.
• take classes that don't have tests...
• try and find a three credit class that only meets once a week, for 75 minutes. Its great.
• keep in contact with people who don't go to the same college as you.
• just believe that things will work out for the best.
• learn about google docs... great thing for lab reports and group projects.
• find joy in the little things
• there is a great little mexican place on the downtown campus that is cheap, and has good food.
• make faces at your brother from across the room after he makes faces at you. People will only see him, and thinks he's weird (end results not guaranteed).
• talking to Rissa for five hours on Skype is amazing... She should get on more often.
• dollar lunches at the institute... Go to them. Cheap, good food.
• be involved. Join clubs, meet people out of your circle.
• expand that circle to include people who you didn't go to high school with.
• make long lists like this during times when you have nothing to do, waiting to eat dollar lunches.
• once you notice one thing (like a tiny skateboard) you notice that same thing constantly for the rest of the day.
• remember your clicker for class.
• go to firesides.
• and again, be happy!!

little moments of happiness

Another day at school, which means another blog post. Now, you may think that this means the post will be about nothing. Which is...

Possible,

maybe even

probable.

But you are still reading, are you not? At least I am starting to use these cool little editing techniques to make my posts look cooler. Makes for an interesting read. Or at least a less boring one.

Well, yesterday, as I stated before, was way too loooong. And then you have the fact that I had to go back to school today. Bummer, right? Totally. A few things did make things better yesterday. Like hanging out with people at the Hayden Library. I know, I know, I went someplace other than the institute. Gasp. But its okay! I was back there after my chemistry class! Anyways... I really like the Hayden Library. Its chill, underground for the most part. The only part that I'm ever going to go in is, anyways. This means that even though its Arizona, and extremely bright outside... Almost ALWAYS, you can have nice walls made out of widows completely, AND be able to see. Now that's a nice thing.

Really

really

nice.

And I got a mountain dew while there. It was pricey, but it had caffeine! Something they don't sell in the institute's vending machine. Very disappointing.

Ironic things also happened. Monday, in my english class, someone mentioned the Environment Arizona people that hang out around Hayden Lawn and come up and ask you if "you have time for the environment." And how if you have to get somewhere, and you say

"no"

it automatically seems like you hate the environment. Now, I'm not someone who is going to parade around telling people that they are sinners for driving a car and putting out carbon emission. Or to just spray a bunch of aerosol cans for the heck of it. But then again, I'm not a believer of global warming. In fact, I'm writing an essay on how it doesn't exist. I just don't think that you should get all up in someones face for it. But anyways, I was talking to a friend about this on the way to Hayden, and what do you know... Some kid comes up and asks us if

"we have time for the environment"

So we stopped, and asked if there was anyway for us to help the environment which didn't include us giving money to their organization. And do you know what his answer was?

He didn't know of any.

Yeah, real aware person there. I could tell you several ways to "help the environment." And I don't even go around wearing a shirt advocating it. If you want to do that, then be aware. Otherwise you'll just look like some dumb person who got sucked into it. Which he probably was. Although it was entertaining and ironic.

But that by far wasn't the best part of my day. Earlier in the day, I was really craving panda express. So you know what I did? I went to panda on the way home from school. Got myself an egg roll, double orange chicken (didn't feel like choosing another one), chow mein, and a fortune cookie. And it was delish, wonderful... So worth the seven bucks. Yumm... And it satisfied my panda craving for probably a good two weeks. Yay!

What did my fortune say, you ask?

"You will find good fortune in love."

So, from the last post, you probably gathered that I did not study for my chemistry test. Well, I've now taken the test and graded it based on the key that was posted online. I got a 22 out of 25, which counts as an A- in the class.

Not bad...

...but not great.

I could have gotten 24 out of 25, if I had read the questions closer. They were stupid little mistakes. And that bugs me. A lot. Which means next time, I am going to read the test closer, and maybe study. But only maybe.

Oh, and my tuesdays are way to long. Eleven hours. That's nearly half a day, which is nearly half of the earth's complete rotation around the sun, which is 1/730th of the earth's rotation on its axis completely. Which is way too much time spent at school.

So, I have a chemistry test today. In twenty minutes, actually. Am I prepared? No. Am I with a group of people who are preparing? Yes. Am I participating? Not really.

I love college.

(Oh... And apparently your blog posts don't have to have titles. So cool.)

College, part deux

College. I know that my last post was mostly complaining about it... and I still hold to the fact that its not as great as its hyped up to be. But... Some things make it better. Like the people. I love the institute. They are all really nice. And then you have the dollar lunches at the institute. They are good - and cheap. Another high point is only having a class once or twice a week. Its soo nice... Although that's still too much for my taste. Maybe it will get better with time. Then you have lots of boys. :) lots and lots of boys. But sadly, lots of them are married. Its scary how many people are married or engaged... Out of my friends who graduated with me in may. For sure, I know of one who's married, and at least five who are engaged. How creepy is that? I know of someone who is still at mountain view who is engaged. Now I just find that insane. How could someone be engaged in high school. Like really? Are you insane? But that's just my opinion. A strong one, but an opinion. So don't go hatin' because I said that. Isn't the point of a blog to speak your mind? So that's me speaking mine. And if I'm married in a year (which is very, very, very unlikely), who cares. That's life.

And technically this is is post three...

...but deux just sounds so much cooler.

FHE

I've decided that I like FHE. The singles ward version. At least I like the people there. Its a great thing... You go, you goof off, and you meet people. A lot of the time they are really nice, cute, return missionaries. I mean, what could be better? And then you have the creepers that you meet. But I guess those are canceled out by all the cool people who are there, because they aren't all that potent. Less than I thought.

Moral of the... post... I'm going to start going to FHE more often.

=)

Conflicting Feelings

Well, I hate to admit this, but I am conflicted pertaining to college AGAIN. I know, I know, its a bit too late, as I am already attending ASU, right? Well, true... Except for certain places that would be equal the cost. I could always transfer. Lol. Now, no college really appeals to me because of their standard of academics... None that I could get into, that is. And those are WAY too expensive. But there are other factors that matter. Don't get me wrong -- I like ASU, its way fun (except for the going to class part), but I just feel like something is missing from it. I don't know what it is... But it's something. And then you have the horrible weather. Yes, I understand that I have lived in Arizona all my life, and I should be used to the curse-ed heat. But I don't think you ever get used to it. Every summer it comes back, and it is horrible. But where else is there to go? No way am I ever going to live in utah (except for maybe PA school, at U of U). Colorado is extremely nice, but there is out of state tuition there. Even instate tuition in AZ without a scholarship is too much... Ruling out NAU and U of A (as if I would go to either of those). So then you have BYUH and BYUI. And I'm not a fan of BYU. Not to mention that 1) I'm not a minority (specifically Polynesian), so BYUH is out... and 2) I would like my school to have at least some standards academically.

And then again, maybe this has nothing to do with the school I'm going to. It could just be due to withdrawl from the twins. I mean, it would be so much better if they were here in Arizona with me. No matter what school they went to. I mean, I bet I could go to EA right now and be happy because Heather is down there. I wouldn't be satisfied with the academics, but my social life would be completed. I think its just because none of my extremely close friends are here with me right now. And that there is no potential for them to be here until the summer. Its horrible.

And its causing conflicting feelings.

My LONG weekend

Well, recently, I had a four day weekend. Very nice concept, and I would probably do it again. Minus the being sick part. But here's how it went: Skip Chemistry on thursday.... Sleep. Wake up, think about working on my essay, decide to sleep some more. Wake up in the morning, planning on getting lots done... Sleep. Wake up, determined to do something. Watch some TV, go to do homework, but feel cruddy. Sleep instead. Wake up, go out to eat with family, come home, be lazy, and go to sleep for the night. Wake up, to go to sleep again. Wake up again, because its becoming difficult to sleep due to sickness. Take advil, sleep some more. Wake up on Monday, needing to write essay, sleep most of the day. I did go get new sandals in-between sleeping, which I needed. Yay accomplishment! Sleep again. Pull some of Jeremy weeds. Sleep. Wake up and go to school, with a bunch of advil.

College Girl

That's right, be jealous. I'm a college girl now. With the attitude that comes with it and everything... Just kidding. Nah, its really just like me transfered to a really large campus. Now, for the probably one or two people who actually read this blog, I am at ASU. Not NAU. Its kinda sad, but I'm happy with ASU. I spend most of my time at the institute, where I see TONS of people that I know. Its really weird. Like I'm still at Mountain View. With my brother also there. Other than being at the institute, I am on the light rail A LOT. Actually, it just seems like that, because its such a long ride from tempe. But for anyone that is familiar with ASU and the campuses, I have classes on both Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses. For anyone not familiar... look it up. I didn't think that I would like the downtown campus all that much, but I really do. Its awesome, smaller and more high tech than Tempe.

But basically, I have these really large gaps in my schedule... Like five hour gaps. Have to do something on these breaks right? Well, the one I'm on right now, I'm talking to Rissa. Awesome girl, that girl. Hahah. But we were skyping, when Steven came up. Awesome guy. But he hung out by me while I was on with Rissa for a while, which was fun. Although I think it embarrassed Marissa quite a bit. Don't know why though, unless she is embarrassed of herself. Lol. Actually, that's probably it.

But that's basically my college life. I don't have a life monday- thursday. Then my life resumes in the weekend. Yes! I love my weekend because I get my life back. I love my life.

Oh, and Rissa has some awesome dance moves. Trust me. And she's a grand singer. ;)

End of Summer Adventures

Well, the last adventure to be posted on here was the one to Greer... And since then, so much happened.

After work one saturday, the one before Heather left to boot camp, I hung out with Nat, Riss and Tye. And boy did we have fun. We started out going to get food (Yoko's (?) and Neilson's). Then, we left and went back towards the house, a chinese firedrill accompanying the ride home. Oh what fun. After this, we headed back to the house for some essential materials for the night (which I wont post on this blog, in case there are certain law officials reading it). We continued to go run around, use the materials, and conduct more firedrills. We also went to a Red Box and rented a movie. When in Rome. Great movie. By the time we got back to the house... Again, (We kept going back... probably 7 or so times in the night.) it was late in the night, or early in the morning. We watched the movie anyways, and crashed afterwards. Fun times. Then we got up in the morning and went to church (nat and riss went to one ward, tye to another, and me yet another). Great night, fun times. Will be remembered for a long while.

That week, after the night of fun, we had a work party. Where we proceeded to break many rules that are enforced normally at the pool. It is true, lifeguards are the worst patrons. Also, on the last day of the season, we had a party in the guardroom basically, because of all the food that was given to us by the patrons having birthday parties there. After work, with my new transformers balloon in hand, I headed over to hang with the twins. Where we cleaned the house some... And then went to the mall. Where I spent too much of my money. Really... Too much money. It depresses me. But the things that I bought are way cute, on the bright side.

The next day, I went to church, and sang in sacrament meeting (horrible torture). Then afterwards, I went back to the twins house (noticed a pattern? I am always with them). I helped them pack, had fun with them. I am pretty sure there are pictures that shall never be posted. Ever. In fact they should just be deleted, forever. Never to appear again. And then came more packing, until late in the night. Which is when I said my goodbyes. :(

Monday morning, I left to Greer with my mom, and the twins left on their flight back to China. In Greer, I had to be doing something at every moment. Which really annoyed my mom. But libby loved it. Have to say though, it was a very productive visit. Of course, during it, I ate at Rendezvous. The best restaurant in the world. Needless to say, if someone ever wants to get on my good side... They just need to take me there. Of course, there is a four hour drive involved too. So its more complicated than just taking me out to a decently priced cafe/sandwich shop. We returned home on... Thursday.

Friday morning, I left to Flagstaff with Jeremy. While there, we hiked part way up (probably half way) up Humphreys. Then we drove around for a while, and finally went to Outback. That night, we went to a bluegrass band (Yonder Mountain String Band). It was pretty good. Just too much bluegrass in one night. Then, about midnight, the concert ended and we drove down to clear creek, by camp verde. Here, we went to a Singles Ward campout. We hiked down the creek Saturday morning, and went to some swimming holes (yay, MORE hiking). Around lunch time, Jeremy and I headed out.. Dead tired. Basically, the night before we got there at 2:30, and woke up at 6 am. Not to mention the whole week I had been doing things constantly at my cabin.

We headed back through Payson, because my cousin had gotten back from his mission (in Boise). So we stopped by their house in payson for probably an hour or so. Then we headed back to the valley. Can you guess what we did when we got back? Slept. For a while.

The next morning, Sunday, I went up to Payson, AGAIN, and went to Rex's homecoming. It was a fun day, spent with my relatives (so, aunt, two uncles, mom, and two cousins). We headed back down to the valley about 7 pm.

That week, I didn't do much... Went to the dentist, and started ASU.

And that is the end of my summer.

"A best friend is a sister that destiny forgot to give you."

So I came across this quote the other day, and I love it. I have no idea who said it, or the context that it was said in... But its amazing. And it has inspired this blog posts. I am always rambling about my life, and what adventures that I'm having (such as starting school... That should be a blog post too sometime.), and never spending enough time mentioning the people that make my life wonderful. So that's what this post is about. My best friends (not all of them- but the ones that are truly like sisters).

And the first one to be mentioned is...

Marissa!

Riss, Rissa, MeiRui, Marissa. Whatever we call her, she is her own person. I haven't met anyone else like her. Not even her twin (who will be highlighted further down). She can almost always cheer me up, no matter what. When she is in the US, deep discussions are frequent. She's one of the people that understands my obsession with walks. She is so sweet, even though she can have a temper (sorry to spoil it for the world Rissa). I don't know what I would do if I didn't have her in my life. And she has been in my life forever. I met the Twins (Natalie and Marissa) when I was only three years old, and we have never ceased to be great friends. Not even through me moving from Gilbert to Mesa... And then them moving from Gilbert to China. This distance is hard, but the time we get to see each other in the summer is always worth it (at least to me). Riss and I have had our struggles, somewhat at the same time. But she is amazing. Beautiful. Fun. Witty... Even smart at times (kidding). She's Marissa, and she's like a sister that I never had.

Natalie!

Natalie. Or Nat. Marissa's twin. Yeah, I know, I'm good friends with both of them. Even though they are different in so many ways. But they are best friends with each other too. Which I hope they know is amazing. Natalie is a sweet girl, with an amazing personality. Of course, I'm not just saying that because she has nothing else going for her. The boys just love her. ;) She's fun, and I can have so many deep discussions with her too. There are only certain people who I feel I can tell anything to, and she is one of them. When I got diagnosed with cancer, she was right there... Once I got home from the hospital. School was in and all that. But I tried to spend as much time with her as possible. And then she moved to china. Now I spend as much time trying to talk to her as possible. Skype is a wonderful thing. And so is the summer... When Riss and Nat come back to AZ. She's so strong... And just amazing. That's all I can say without feeling overly gushy and repetitive.

Heather!

Heather... I met her in church, or preschool. I'm not quite sure. But we had every class together in school until fourth grade, when I moved to Mesa. Probably would have continued the trend in fifth and sixth grade, so I hear. Heather is sweet, and smart (very smart). She's beautiful. Back in the day, we lost contact for all but a couple conversations a year when she moved the Thatcher in Jr. High... But now we keep in contact, and visit each other occasionally thanks to cars and texting and internet. I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Tialene!

Tye tye! Which she told me she doesn't like anymore, because it makes her sound likes she's five. But hey, that's when we gave her the nickname. Tye is amazing, as well. I know these entries for each person sound repetitive, but don't get me wrong, each girl is unique in her own way. Totally unique. In fact, we are all really quite different, and its amazing we are all friends. But Tye... She's beautiful (like, really pretty). And she has an amazing voice. Its stunning. She's so strong. Both mentally and physically. She's also funny. Just one of my girls. :)

:'(

Well, today was my last day of work for the season, other than a few pool parties... which is either a good or a bad thing. Good as in, I get a break before school. Bad as in no more money, and Amber has left town. Oh how I loved that girl. She will do great things at her Christian school in Kentucky. Also, this morning I was informed that I would be leaving after church tomorrow to go to Greer with my parents. Which I don't entirely want to do. It also means that tonight was my last night to see Nat and Riss for basically a year. Which just plain sucks. A lot. I mean... Seriously. I miss them so much already. Let me tell you something, never have your best friends live half way across the world. Its not that much fun. So yeah... I would say that today was crappy in terms of goodbyes. But good in terms of who I spent it with. I wouldn't change that for anything.

:)

Wow, I'm on a roll with this whole posting on the blog thing. But tonight, I went to Oregano's for the first time, and man it was good! I am soo full now though. It was a fun experience, although I could do with out the uncomfortable fullness. Hahah.

Yesterday, I went to freestone park with Natalie. We got Costa Vida and ate it there. Only we had some extra food left... And there were tons of ducks around. So we fed them! There were so many! There was even a little baby duck, which is now affectionately known as "Baby Duck." :)

But yeah...

Decision-Making in Quotes

So, decisions have been coming my way left and right lately, what with college and all. And I'm just not that great of a decision-maker I guess. I say this because I take forever to make them... And I'm very indecisive about them. The only solace I can find is when I pray about them, which isn't a bad thing. But I guess it comes down to some quotes I've found lately. To start out...

“The key to change... is to let go of fear.” -Rosanne Cash

This quote has defined a lot of my decisions lately. Such as college. I had so many fears about it, about things that would happen depending on the college I went to. If I really wanted to change where I lived, or just change the school I was going to (like ASU, which is still a huge change in... everything). In the end, I decided on going to ASU. To do so I had to let go of many fears. But so far it appears as if it was the best decision. And who knows what could happen as a result of this decision?

Which brings me to the next quote...

“Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” - Keri Russell

Its a common quote, in one way or another. Heard several times, several different ways in one's life. But this is just so very true. Not talking to someone for one day could turn into not talking to them for six months. But this quote just makes me weary sometimes. Such as my decision about what ward to attend. Singles ward, or the home ward where I would teach primary? This decision is still on my mind, and its not going anywhere anytime soon.

But I guess the most important quote is...

“Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.” - James Dean

So never let go of your dreams, but say things that you feel impressed to say, do the things you feel you should do. You never what will happen. Thank our Heavenly Father for all the blessings in our life, no matter how small they may be. Live your life so that you would be comfortable dying tomorrow.

Trip to Greer... In more detail.

As if you wanted that, right?

Alright... Here's how the story goes: leave work at about noon on friday, pick up coxes... Skip forward to Pinetop, about 3:40 pm, and we are buying groceries. Then we continue the drive down to Greer.

We arrive in pretty good time, and we unload our stuff and head down to explore the area. Visit the creek, lakes, and everything else. Trying to figure out what to do, we attend a woodwind quintet concert at the community center, which was pretty good. We left at intermission though, because Marissa didn't like it all that much. Then we go back to the cabin, and we hang out and watch a lame scary movie (it still freaked Rissa out though).

The next morning Riss and I wake up at about 5 am, and get ready for the hike. We finally get Nat awake, although apparently she thought it was 8 am. I only discovered that later on the hike. We ended up leaving at about 5:30. Then we drive on a dirt road to the trail head... And begin the 16 mile hike up the highest mountain in the White Mountains of Arizona. The first half goes pretty good, and the scenery is great. We cross a creek and begin the real incline to the top of the mountain.

We turn back about a half mile from the top, however, because it starts sprinkling. Then once we get across the creek, it starts to pour. At first, we try to stay dry, but to no avail. With about 7 mile to hike in the pouring rain, there is no chance. We finally make it back to the car, soaked through and freezing. Then we dry off at the cabin and hit Rendezvous, which is my favorite restaurant/cafe EVER! In case you wanted to know that. ;)

There we eat lunch and have much needed Hot Chocolate. Mmmm.... Afterwards, we head down to Eagar and buy new, cheap, extremely comfy jackets, as the ones we wore on the hike are, well, wet. We head back and nap... Then Nat and I head down to the stream and take pictures. We then go back to the cabin, and play games(like dominoes and Wahoo).

The next morning we go back down to the stream, and take more pictures. Then we head out. We eat lunch in Pinetop, and return back down to the valley around 4 pm.

Great trip, all things considered. And oddly enough, I want to hike Baldy again next year. Who wants to come?