The Excitement Is Skipping Inside Me!

P.S. As fun as it has been to be here in Burley with Bay and Garrett, and the fact that I've learned so much from them and we've had a great time together -- I cannot wait to go home tomorrow and be with Brian.

It's been nine days since I've seen him and I miss him!

I am also excited for Homecoming week at Utah State!

Go Aggies, Go Aggies, Hey, Hey, Hey!

Childhood Memories: Fall time

Yesterday, as I sat at my home in Burley, sick of writing "Thank You" cards and having watched about all the What Not To Wear episodes I could, I decided to go see what the great outdoors had to offer.

What I saw when I got out there was a yard full of leaves -- and when I say full, I mean FULL! So, what else can you do when childhood memories start flooding your head but engage and satisfy them?!

I remember growing up here, and every fall brought the same things: tons of trucks full of potatoes, beets and corn, a lot of dust and allergies, and a huge pile of leaves that called my name. The pile was always almost as tall as me. I used to spend hours jumping, playing, re-raking and jumping more into our pile of leaves, after we had raked them. It was the greatest thing in the world -- to come home from a long day at school and play, until dark, in our pile of leaves! My little sister and my neighbor and I would bury each other in them. We would try to jump from the tramp into them. We probably even incorporated some version of "house" outside with our leaf pile. That pile of leaves meant fall!

Yesterday, I realized I'm just as picky about raking now as I was back then. I really like to have all the leaves that I can possibly get in the pile. No mediocre job will do. I did have to relax a little, as the wind was making it impossible for me to get as many leaves as I wanted to into my pile. It ended up being a long process becuase the rake decided to give out about halfway through my raking. Nevertheless, I got it done and waited, with little kid anticipation and excitement, for Bay and G-man to get home from school. They were hardly impressed, to say the least.

The pile now only goes to my waist. It has shrunk through the passing years.

The Guide To One Huge Mess In Only Three Hours and 21 Minutes

For the past five days I have been living at my parent's house (no, not because I'm having marital problems), but to have the grand joy of staying with my two youngest siblings while the parents are on vaca.

My parents are currently enjoying a well deserved, and longed-for, trip back East -- to drive about and enjoy the fall foliage. My parents have had the opportunity to see beautiful forests of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, visit the Dartmouth campus, and, I suspect, will soon be arriving in the great city of Boston, Massachusetts for some history lessons and great food.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Baylee and I decided to make some Halloween sugar cookies. These sugar cookies are a specialty of my mother's and ever since I can remember she has made them for holidays such as Halloween, Valentine's Day and Easter. So, loving to cook myself, I gave in to Bay's pleadings to make them. Little did I know that her "helping" only lasted until two cookie sheets were baked, she then lost interest and left me to finish the dirty job.

I don't know if it was worth the time for about 42 cookies that may be gone in minutes, but it's tradition I guess!

Happy Halloween to all!

P.S.

Did I mention I got married about three weeks ago?
Yeah, I did.
That story is still to come.

JSYK

Bowl Full Of Crunchy Goodness

For those of you who are fans of Kashi's GoLean Crunch! and General Mills MultiGrain Cheerios, I introduce: Cheerios Oat Cluster Crunch Cereal!

It's a grand combination of some of the best Cheerios with little, tasty oat clusters surprising your mouth with a slight hint of cinnamon!

It's also a great grab-n-go cereal that tastes as good without milk as it does with. Plus, it's supposedly good for you because it's made with seven whole grains (we'll overlook how many grams of sugar it contains).

This tasty treat has quickly made it to my top five cereals of all time.

You should get a box!

A Birthday Wish Full of Happiness!

I don't have much time to blog, which makes me sad, but I did want to wish one of my favorite uncles a very happy birthday! Hope it's great Uncle Warren!

Oh, The Life of a College Student!: Parts VIII, IX, and X

And now, for random ramblings of my head.

Today I saw my favorite Aggie Shuttle Driver holding his new little son. He is about the happiest person I know -- always greeting every single passenger with a enthusiastic welcome.
"Good Morning!"
"Come on in!"
"Hello, how are ya?"
"Good Morning!"
"Come on in!"
I don't think I have ever known a driver such as him, and I'll never forget him either. Who wouldn't want to be greeted like this every morning for your 7:30 class?!

Speaking of 7:30 in the a.m. -- I took my last final, maybe ever, at 7:30 on Tuesday morning. It was anti-climatic.
No huge burden of stress was relieved. I didn't feel lighter. I didn't even give a shout of joy as I handed in my exam and walked out of the room.
It was just over.
And now it's over -- everything.

I remember Nikkala once telling me of when she finished her final exam before graduation. She said she was walking around in the TSC -- looking for anyone who cared and ran in to some girl she knew from her ward. Nik said she just had to tell her because she had to tell someone and that girl just happened to be the first person Nik knew and could tell. I felt kind of the same way.
I had to tell someone that I was done, and since it was 8 in the morning I knew I had few options, so I called my dad.
It felt good just to tell him I was done. He was pretty excited, maybe more because he just realized he didn't have to pay for my schooling any more! What a great dad I have and how blessed I am to be so lucky to have had the opportunity to go to school. Parents make it happen, you know.

As I walked out of the business building Tuesday I felt as though everything was my last.
My last time walking out of a class.
My last time seeing Old Main lit so beautifully by the rising sun.
My last time checking my hair in the Eccles Conference Center Windows.
My last time to sell back a book....

And they did even buy it!

But you know, it's not really my last. Maybe I'll be lucky and land a job at the university -- where I can remain in college forever, but if not I still have all summer to enjoy the fine campus and exciting atmosphere of Utah State University!

Which makes me happy.

P.S. I walk in two days time -- May 3 -- and today I had to scrape snow off my car. What a bummer.

Oh, The Life of a College Student!: Parts VI and VII

Nothing beats working your butt off in a class and getting what you deserve! I know I've already blogged about my Mass Media Law class, but I just have to mention it again, as I was reminded today about the satisfaction of completing it and receiving an 'A'! I'll never forget the many late nights camped out in the computer lab, suffering with fellow journalism students as we all tried to construct a paper that Penny would find somewhat acceptable. I learned a lot in that class, even though my mind doesn't allow me to recall much of it. I learned that hard work and the willingness to persevere pays off. I also learned that I'll probably never be a lawyer, and I'm ok with that.

I've also learned that you've got to be able to laugh things off, and most importantly, laugh at yourself. It's the only way you'll make it through the rough times. You have two choices -- to laugh or cry -- most often I opt for laughing because it brings smiles to others, it makes me feel good, I once heard you burn more calories laughing than...sometimes, I don't know what, plus you get a pretty good ab work-out. My roommate, Karilyn, is a great example of this -- I don't know how she does it, but some day I hope to be as good as her. If you only knew half of what she's had to deal with, as far as school goes, this week -- and then seen/heard how many times she's laughed -- you wouldn't believe it.
Thank you Kari for keeping things light and bearable.

I don't know how I could write blogs about attending Utah State without mentioning Aggie Basketball. It has always been a favorite -- from making signs my freshman year that said, "That's my boyfriend, #20!" (because I was Jaycee's girlfriend!), to waiting in line for at least three hours in the cold with Kari, Brian, and Dylan to get on the front row, Brian and his mullet, tying with a guy who couldn't shoot in around-the-world contest during a timeout, to being there when we beat Nevada and rushed the court -- I've never heard The Spectrum so loud! -- or being on the Kiss Cam twice my last year and getting raff from the athletics office as well as the whole town of Burley, to sitting in the press box and hardly being able to sit down because I couldn't cheer and the game was intense, and being there when Jaycee hit his 2,000th career shot and becoming the school's leading scorer and Stew, the school's most winningest coach -- Aggie Basketball has provided many good days for me in Logan and I wouldn't be a True-Blooded Aggie if I didn't mention them as part of my experience at Utah State.

Oh, The Life of a College Student!: Part IV and V

Sorry about missing yesterday -- that just means I'll leave twice the blog today (a blog of randomness).

My second summer here worked out better than I could have ever planned. About the beginning of April I realized summer was fast approaching and I had no place to live (which I find is the case most April's!). Randomly, my friend from the A-Team, Karilyn Flake, said she thought there was an open spot in her apartment and helped me get the contract and necessary documents to move in. We talk about this a lot because really, we didn't know each other very well -- at all -- then. But, luckily for me, Karilyn is what I like to call an "insta-friend" -- someone who you can instantly be best friends with and fee like you've known your whole life, when really, you've only known them for maybe a day. It's the best kind of friend and I recommend keeping people like this around. It really is great! Anyway, the rest is history....we became best friends -- and I don't mean that in "Oh, you're me best friend forever!" as most people would think, but she really, truly is my best friend. I can't explain it and I don't know if you'd understand, so I'll just leave it at that. We had the best time that summer, and have always had good times. Her sense of adventure and high energy has kept me going through some of the most difficult times and also kept things in perspective when it seems as though my life is in fast-forward with no pause button. She's the one that has kept me sane throughout these years and I don't know if she'll ever know how much that has meant to me. The majority of my stories, experiences and memories from my college life include her and throughout the next week or so you'll come to know her a lot more.

Lucky are you!

Summers in Logan are the best! Hardly anyone is on campus, which you may think is a bad thing, but really it's the best! "The dog days of summer" -- I really don't know what this means, but I imagine you could use it to describe Logan in the summer. Campus is dead except for every SOAR day when new students flock grudgingly (and sometimes nervous-excitedly too) to the TSC to complete orientation, EFY groups sprawling out on the lawns and eating catered food from The Coppermill, dance camps and competitions, as well as cheerleaders galore and football and basketball camp boys smelling up the International Lounge. You can always tell when they come in the building to eat.

My summer diet consists of chips and salsa, frozen fruit and go-gurts, apples, a random slurpie or snow-cone, and fresh tomato sandwiches. Also, those spontaneous midnight chocolate and butterscotch chip cookie sprees. This happens probably too often and always too late in the day. Slushy Gatorade is always kept on hand for those too-hot-handle days when your roommates (not Karilyn and I) are too cheap to turn on the air conditioning, even though the apartment is 100+ degrees. I've found that Sam's Club is a great place to visit in the summer and Karilyn and I even made a plan one day that we could live there. They have everything you need -- even though both of us would prefer Costco over Sam's any day -- we just couldn't figure out how we were going to shower. We're still working on that one.

Sunday Waffle Nights, "So You Think You Can Dance" watching, playing werewolfe, going to the Farmer's Market every Saturday, just sitting and listening to the bands at Summerfest, and dressing-up for the opening night of a movie are just a few of the entertainment excursions I enjoy in the summer. This past summer I realized again that I love riding my bike -- everywhere -- or running to places. I love running early in the morning, or later at night when it has cooled down. There's nothing better than running in the summer -- it's so calm outside, very little traffic, few people out and about, the sun is coming out for the day, you get to just think by yourself, about whatever you want, or nothing at all -- it's just you and peace. And I would have it no other way.

One night last year, as I was getting ready for bed I heard a knock on my door. In walked Karilyn with her pillow and a blanket. "I'm just going to sleep on your floor ok?!" So more blankets were brought in for a make-shift bed and then lights were out. Nothing was really said, maybe some laughter about the randomness and craziness of it all, but we said good night and that was that. No questions were asked why she would want to sleep on my hard floor, or why she decided at 11:45 in the p.m. she was going to sleep over, but we always get a good laugh when it's brought up!

Oh, The Life of a College Student!: Part III

Today I attended my last class at Utah State.

Sad.

Luckily for me it was one of my most favorite classes I have ever taken here, and one that I believe I have taken a total of six times now! Not because I've failed it -- because it's a P.E. class. PE 1212, Advanced Volleyball. Great times have been had in that class -- everything from having a great hit, or pass, or set, or laughing so hard at someone getting hit in the face, only to turn around and get hit yourself! It has always been one I can count on enjoying and a great way to meet and make connections with people who share the same love for the sport. It is the one class that has kept me sane throught my career.

I had a a great time today thinking of some memories that I could share with you today. It's funny to remember all the times that I felt dumb, or out of place because I never thought they would make me laugh, and then make me cry and want even more to postpone my graduation.

I remember telling people that I was going to school at Utah State. "Don't you know how cold it gets there?!" they would reply. "Yes," I would say. I'm from Idaho, I know what cold is. Little did I know how very cold it could get here and that it was possible for your face and hands to freeze just by opening the door. I really know what "..stings your nose and bites your toes..." means now. Yes, people -- it is cold here, but I like it.

My first summer here is probably one of the experiences that made my love for Utah State and Cache Valley grow the most. I had great roommates, a great job, I got to play sand volleyball every day, I met a lot of awesome people, it was just all-around good. And, surprisingly, it has only become better. What was the best summer to me - in all my life - was only just the start of the absolutely awesome years to come! I really do love Utah State and Cache Valley and could not, would not, ask or wish to do or experience it anywhere else. I was meant to come here.

One more thing: I'll never forget the random jobs I've had while at Utah State and the crazy experiences. (1. Soil Testing Lab -- working with two cousins + JKA =great/crazy times and a lot of laughter, popcorn, lunches in the Carousel, and cross-word puzzle Fridays.

2. Peer Advising in University Advising -- being trained by my best friend, enjoying the drama in an office with 7+ women and hundreds of stressed, impatient students, learning and knowing so much about general education requirements to make others sick, the satisfaction of helping ten students before an advisor could get done with one.

3. PDP(Publication, Distribution, & Production) -- meeting Bob and Dale and Dale and Mike and Dave and Bob's kids and wife and Travis's sister, collating and binding I don't know how many New Student Planners and football media guides, learning how to run machinery that weighs 10x as much as me and can fold and collate 5,000 science magazines within 40 minutes -- this is, if the glossy paper quit sticking to itself, going on deliveries with Bob and being pulled by a runaway dolly with 5 boxes of folded newsletters, trying and trying to get the shrink-wrapper to look as good as Bob's, but never succeeding...)

4. I did write one story for The Statesman one time. Jay Wamsley really did want me to write more, but I had little time and didn't really like it, which is funny because now I write quite a bit.

5. Interning for the Athletics Media Relations Office -- ok, so not really a job, but I did get credit for it for only one semester and the next semester...totally free to them, no credit for me. Kind of a rip-off, but I've enjoyed it and been able to talk to several ESPN employees and others about how many points Jaycee had scored that night and how many touchdowns we didn't score...and I can and have freaked many athletes out by finishing their last name and what position or event they compete in, their hometown, high school, stats from their last meet...no, I'm not a stalker -- these things just stick in my head when I write about them for three hours every Saturday night.

6. The A-Team -- I don't even know what or how I can say how much this job means to me, how grateful I am that my cousin made me apply, or how awesome and truly amazing the people are that I have met in this job. It really has been the one thing in all my college career that has made me grow and change the most and really made me who I am today. Kind of crazy, huh? I feel sorry for all those who haven't had this experince and who will never know how great it is. I just don't know how to explain it.

Oh, The Life of a College Student!: Part II

If you would have asked me if I was ready to graduate anywhere from January to March I would have responded with a most definite "No." If you would have asked me if I was ready to graduate in March-April 15 I would have said "Yes." If you have asked me within the past week I would respond, yet again, with a strong and confident "No." If you ask me today, I will say "No."

I thought I was ready -- ready to not have to worry about classes any more, ready to not have to do homework, ready to not have so much stress and anxiety -- but the truth is, I'm not. And I don't know if I will ever be ready. It's just one of those things that springs upon you when you're least expecting it and you have to figure out how you're going to handle this change -- change in scenery, change in associations and friends, a change in comfort. I really don't know if there is a way to prepare for it. I don't know if I'd really want to know how to anyway. I don't think you're supposed to be prepared for everything life throws at you. What's the fun and spontaneity in that? How else do you grow and really learn what you like and dislike, how to have self-discipline and do things you don't necessarily want to do? You don't, and that's why you can't prepare. It's life.

I think my friend Ashley explained it a little when she said,"It's not necessarily the classes that I'm going to miss, but just the whole college experience" ....the college life, the feelings, thoughts, growth, learning -- the atmosphere. She is right.

And now for some random memory or thought that affected me in some way that I still remember it today....

I like maple bars -- a lot! I'd have to say this is one of my most favorite treats -- besides ice cream that is! My hereditary love for doughnuts came from my grandma, and yes, I'm quite sure it's heredity. We both could sit down with our own box of doughnut holes and within a matter of minutes put them all down, without even thinking. Anyway -- to the story...so my love for maple bars, and especially fresh ones, led me to meet others who shared in this same joy and passion . One day, when I was a freshman, I received the joyous news that Tommy's Doughnuts made fresh maple bars every day at 1:30 in the a.m. So, of course, my friends and I planned a doughnut run to experience these fresh-from-the-oven tasties! Now, as I mentioned in my previous post, I went to bed every night at 10:30 sharp. So my dear friend, Whitney, devised a plan that she would get me to go country dancing and then we'd go get maple bars after. It was a win-win for her because she had tried for weeks to get me to go dancing with her and she liked maple bars. The story goes that I did go dancing -- maybe more because I knew I would get a maple bar at the end of it all -- but much to our surprise, Tommy's decided to not be open this Thursday night! Not only was I sorely disappointed about not being able to eat a maple bar, but it was WAY past my bedttime and I had even gone dancing! I was disgusted! But don't you even worry -- a week or two later Whit, myself, and my roommate randomly decided to check on Tommy's again, this time at 11:30 or midnight, and we scored with fresh maple bars! We even documented our "midnight run" with a picture and it remains one of my favorites to this day!

Disclaimer: (No. 1) I did actually enjoy dancing, even though I was not willing to go. I just had never been and had no idea what I was doing. No, just because I'm from Idaho does not mean I know how, or have ever been country-swing dancing!

(No.2) I found that even though Tommy's maple bars were right off the frier, I'd prefer a maple bar from most grocery stores any day. Not kidding!

Oh, The Life of a College Student!: Part I

I decided it's time for an update -- and since my graduation from Utah State is in about 10 days I thought it to be an appropriate subject. My plan is to make a post every day until I graduate with memories I've had since I've been here. Ten days is not enough for me to share all the good times I've had and the lessons I've learned, but it will give you a glimpse of my experiences here.

I began my career at Utah State with an 8:30 STAT 1040 class. Now, I expect you are thinking that I will say next how that was just too early, but it wasn't too early -- as my cousin and I had already been up and at it for three hours! Yes, that's right. My cousin, Deidra (with whom I was only separated from by a wall), and I would go to the gym every morning at 6, well except for some random Wednesdays when Deid decided it was a bad day to go! Why get up that early, you ask? To beat the rush, to get our exercise in before heading to work at 8 or class at 8:30, or maybe just to tell people we got up that early -- I really don't know the reasoning behind it, but that's just how it was, and therefore we had an excuse to go to bed every night at 10:30! I'm not kidding about this either! I was ridiculed and mocked my whole freshman year for this habit, but believe you me, I was well rested and ready for the day when it came -- even at 5:30. I was nominated to be the drill sargeant, knocking on the wall to make sure Deid was awake and then awaiting her knock back so I knew she knew I would be over there in 15 min. jumping on her bed if she didn't get up.

WOW Week became on of my most favorite times of year when I was a freshman! I got to enjoy a free walking taco, served to me by none other than the University President, Kermit Hall. I got to watch a movie on the HPER Field on a gigantic blow-up screen. And -- the funnest part of the week that year -- my roommate, Staci Meacham, winning the grand prize at Ultimate B-I-N-GO, a 42-inch screen TV! No only did she run up to the winner's table without her Bingo card, my other roommate and cousin, had to ride back to our apartment in the trunk because there just wasn't enough room for all of us and the TV! What a great night!

Lucky Are You!

Lucky for all my avid readers I was procrastinating and avoiding studying for my test tomorrow by checking my blog, as well as my Aunt Patrice's and noticed that I was "tagged!" So not only am I fulfilling my "tagged" status, I'm also blogging! What a great day!

Tagged

A. The rules are posted at the beginning .
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags fellow bloggers.

10 years ago: I was at the awkward eleven years of age attending White Pine Intermediate School as a 5th grader. I was improving my Uno skillls by playing every day, while also learning Spanish from my teacher, Mrs. Armenta -- who called my friend Whitney Beck and I "little diablos." I later learned that means "devils" in Spanish! I also sat by Whit and Brandt Hines in our close-knit group that we named "The Rootin' Tootin' Cows" - complete with song and all. What a great year!

5 things on my to do list today: 1. Start training for my next half marathon(which I'll have you know that I did run 4 miles today!) 2. Study for my Marketing test that I haven't started studying for 3. Write a thank you 4. Get to bed before 11:30 5. Buy bread, milk, yogurt, and cheese:)

Snacks I enjoy: Crisp, juicy Fuji apples, vanilla ice cream, carrots, fruit snacks, and , toast with honey

Things I would suddenly do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: I would donate about a million to light the whole Quad at Christmastime, I'd build a lodge/cabin someplace really cool, I'd travel to Boston and go to a couple Red Sox games, as well as take my dad and whoever else would like to go to the major league stadiums around the country, go to school to learn more about everything, and then put the rest into savings!

3 of my bad habits: 1. I stress about time - a lot - and sometimes the stress gets to me any makes me want to swear! 2. I feel guilty about not getting enough done in my day, not visiting enough people, not keeping in touch, etc. 3. I silently correct people's speech in my head, sometimes - most of this I learned from Deidra!

Jobs I have had: beet hoer, irrigation specialist, file manager for a doctor, lab assistant, peer advisor and mentor, A-Team facilitator and coordinator, keeping people sane while they try to accomplish too much, and resident HSM expert

Things that people don't know about me: I secretly wish for the 80's and early 90's styles to come back! I would never have to worry about my hair being too frizzy or big or naturally white-trash; I wouldn't have to worry about my clothes being too bright or too awkward; I could wear Exclamation! every day and it'd be cool! -- honestly, I wouldn't have to worry about anything!

To be fair to everyone I'm not going to tag anyone because really, I don't know who has been tagged and who hasn't!
Have a great day! And until next time. . . enjoy the warmer weather and eat some ice cream -- because it's good and good for you!