In the Cold I'm Standing

As I was walking home from the library, I saw a young man emerge from between two vans parked on campus.  I walked closer and soon realized that this young man was entirely devoid of a shirt.  As I quickly averted my eyes, I thought to myself,

      "First of all, why is he not wearing a shirt?

Second of all, why is he not wearing a shirt on a BYU campus?

Third of all, why is he not wearing a shirt in the middle of October?!"

Honey, You're a Funny Girl

For about a year, now, I have been fascinated with the meme culture.  The images, the vernacular, the jokes, the community - fascinating!

I am a particular fan of the BYU Memes page on facebook, but I've always been merely an observer, not a participant.  Never have a gathered the nerve to "like" another person's meme let alone create one of my own.

Until now. 

I decided to really get my foot in the door and actually post a meme.  It was kind of an emotional event.  A BYU Memes celebrity liked my photo after it had been up for only a few minutes - I cried with joy.  And it didn't stop there!  Likes and comments just make me feel so validated. 
Well, it was so well received that I posted another just this morning.

I'm hilarious, right?
They like me, they really like me!

La Mort de Juliette

We tend to have pretty awful internet 'round these parts, but today was particularly noteworthy in it's lack of decent connection.

Early this morning, I awoke to a loud bang.  I thought it sounded like a slab of concrete falling from some height and assumed it had something to do with the nearby construction.  A few hours later, there was another loud bang, which this time I saw to be accompanied by a bright flash of light.  Incidentally (or so I thought), the internet was completely out.  Not just connecting extra slowly, or coming up with "failed to load" message boxes, but displaying a completely new error page, unlike anything I'd encountered before. 
After church, I came to find out that these two events were not as separate as I'd thought.  It turns out that a squirrel wandered up onto the roof and had chewed through an internet cable, frying himself in the process and producing a very loud noise (bang #1).  Later, it's mate (presumably) wandered up the same way, chewed the same cable, and fried herself (bang and flash #2), falling to her death on the sidewalk below next to her lover.

How romantic, right?

Children Will Listen Pt 5

I attended a Stake Relief Society Meeting this past Sunday.  It was a particularly hot day, and the air conditioning was not working, so perhaps we were all a little crabby.  As well, the meeting location had been changed very last minute (a note on the door of the first building told us we had to now walk up to another), so most girls were showing up to the new location a few minutes later than they would have. 
The Relief Society President stood up part way through the meeting to conduct:

``Thank you for bearing with us tonight, Sisters; I know it`s hot.  And we`re sorry to those of you back there in `outer darkness` - I don`t know why the lights aren`t working.  But maybe this is a lesson to you to show up a little bit earlier.``

There was an audible `ooh` from the congregation.

A girl called back: 

``Well, maybe you should have told us where it was a little bit earlier.``

The Relief Society President responded:

``Well, if you`d shown up there earlier, then you would have been here earlier.``

Women can be so catty. 

Oh Canada*

Coming from the far away land of the Canucks, I tend to feel pretty exotic around these parts.  You should see the awed looks I get when I tell people that I'm from Alberta, Canada.
But sometimes I find it a little silly how ignorant Americans can be.  When people hear that I'm from Alberta or even Canada, too many assume that I must know Bill or Sally or Terry from Small Town, Far Away Province, Canada.  It used to annoy me, but now I'm just amused. 


On the first day of my science class this semester, the teacher was asking us all where we were from.  It came around to my turn, and I told him.
"Canada?" he replied, "I have a couple of friends from Canada."
"Oh, well, I must know them," I responded, trying to beat him to the chase.

"No, I don't think so.  They're from over in New Brunswick."
Apparently he didn't catch my sarcasm.


Later in the semester, I was with my roommates and a few of their friends.  As is customary, we went around the table introducing ourselves, what we're studying, and where we're from.
One young man from California asked me what part of Alberta I was from and then said, "I actually have some relatives from Nova Scotia."  With a straight face, I retorted, "Oh really?  That's very cool.  Ya know, I have some relatives from Colorado." 
He looked at me like I was an idiot.  I looked at him like he was one.
(I suppose this wasn't the kindest response of me.  I felt especially bad after I later found out that he had a sincere interest in all things Canadian and just was honestly interested in knowing more about it.)


My roommates from last semester and I are in the same online class.  When the semester started, we were asked to introduce ourselves and respond to at least two other people's introductions on the online discussion board.  Alex and I figured we could have a little fun with the rest of the class by pretending to not already know each other, and hopefully ward off any further inquiries regarding my nationality.

(Click to enlarge)

I have fun with it.  Oh Canada!




*This counts as lyrics from a musical - haven't you seen Score: A Hockey Musical?

There's a Bright Golden Haze on the Meadow

This past Monday was Memorial Day (not to be confused with Veterans Day which celebrates the service of all those who served in the military while Memorial Day commemorates only those who have died in service.  I know you were all wondering.  I was), and that meant a long weekend.  Those are few and far between here at BYU-Idaho, so we *cherish them. 

*cherishing usually consists of pledging to catch up on all those things you just can't quite fit into the rest of your normal week - cleaning your room, writing that extra essay, sleeping, blogging - and then proceeding to not do them.

But this weekend was a little extra special.  My roommate from last semester, Alex, invited her current and some former roommates, myself included, to her parents' ranch in Wyoming for the holiday.  It was so much darned fun to be with all of those girls and just spend a few days being outside.

On the way to Wyoming - I haven't sat in the front middle seat
since we got red of the big orange suburban!

Back from a very wet and hail-filled quad ride

It was too wet all weekend to build a bonfire, but Charlotte and
I made s'mores in the oven

We herded cows on Monday.  This two-day-old calf was
following behind the rest a little slowly, so we took it with us

 We also watched/helped with the branding and castration of cows, but I'll spare you the pictures of that.
Actually, I'm not that considerate.  The only reason they're not posted is because I forgot to get any.

Join the Circus Like You Wanted to

I remember going to the Shriner's Circus once as a child.  If I recall correctly, though I really don't claim to, there was a lot more promotion of their organization than actual entertainment.  Still, I was pretty excited when I saw ads that the Circus Gatti was in town - and better yet, they had a coupon for two dollars off of an adult ticket!
So my roommates Kaylee, Estefani, and I with friends Carlton and Harrison went to the Circus.  To be honest, I expected the show to be fairly low-scale (it is Rexburg, after all) and maybe not worth the price of the ticket (even with the two dollars off), but I was pleasantly surprised!  Really, from the moment we stepped inside the "big tent", I was titillating with excitement.  What with the ringmaster, aerialists, clowns, BMX "Freaks", carmel apples, and elephant rides (yes, elephant rides), I felt just like a kid again!

With Leo the Clown

Estefani and Harrison with a sno-cone

Carmel apple - circus-y - and bottled water - less circus-y.

Kaylee on an elephant ride

Carlton gets a free circus mustache

Volunteer needed - Carlton upstaged Leo, really

Harrison, Estefani, Kaylee, Me, Carlton

Too much fun!  If I hadn't had class that night, I might have been tempted to go back and watch the second showing!

We're Going to War and Oh My

I miss my old roommates.
(Well, as much as one can miss those she still sees on a daily basis - often multiple times a day.) 
Don't get me wrong - I like my new apartment of roommates and we're definitely getting closer, but sometimes you just can't compare to that familiarity of the people you've already spent three months with, sharing a tv, fridge space, and the bathroom. 
But like I said, I still see them as much as my own roommates.  And we find ways to spend bring us even closer. 
            Alex and I make temple and library runs together;
                        Robbi's new husband is in my class, so we connect through him;
                                    Ashley and I send detailed messages about all things boy-related;
                                                And Rachel and I bond through a continuing battle of Nerf guns.

I'm winning.  By 200%.

Okay, I admit, the score's nothing to look at right now, but it's fun.  Truth be told, I'm going easy on her.  We set rules regarding where and when a person can be shot, but Rachel always forgets to bring her weapon to class.  Plus, I'm just a tank when it comes to stalking (haha), so I've been trying not to make her feel too bad.

I am really looking forward to this semester.  I have old friends, new friends, a good home evening group, and three great home teachers.  The weather is nice and we've already gotten a good start on enjoying it with more plans in the works.  Even my crazy class schedule hasn't managed to put a damper on things.  It's gonna be a gooder!

I'm Not Leavin' Yet*

I have to apologise to all my devoted fans and readers out there (hey mom!). I've neglected my blogging duty and left you all hanging in suspense for nearly two months wondering why I haven't updated - was she deathly ill and unable to leave her bed? Did she run away and elope with one of those crazy RMs so that her new homemaking duties left her no time to fill you in on the trivial happenings of her college life? Could she have converted to piratism and obtained a hook for a hand, leaving her unable to function at a keyboard?
I know you're all wondering.
But no, I am still healthy, single, and Mormon...and perhaps just a little lazy.
So I apologise.

On Tuesday, I will begin my third semester at BYU-Idaho, which makes me a sophomore. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited to no longer have to tell people that I'm a freshman. Though I'll still have to admit that I'm 18. That's okay, two more months.
This semester is going to be a little strange. Technically, I'm on my offtrack. I want to go to school year round, but I can't apply for Fast Grad until I have 20 more credits. That means I can only take online and night classes this semester. In fact, my first class of the semester doesn't even start until 7 pm. Truth be told, I'm kind of a morning person, and I've had 7.45 am classes for the last two semesters, and I try to make it to bed by 10 or 11. This semester, there are days that I won't even be getting home until 10 at night, and I'll definitely be able to sleep in a little longer. I might have to start actually living a normal college schedule with a social life after 10.oo!
... Toga?

Once again, I have entirely new roommates. Only two others have moved in at this point, but I'm sure the rest will come tomorrow. It certainly would have been easier to just stay in my last apartment, but by the time I re-registered for housing, they already had the room filled up and too many roommate requests to start rearranging things. Don't fret, though; I'm only two doors down from my old place and I'm sure I'll still be over there quite a bit to see two of my old roommates.

So, here we go: Round Three. Let's see if we can't make it as awesome as the first two!

*Don't ask - it's a song, but not from a musical. To be honest, titles are one of the main reasons I couldn't work up the motivation to blog lately. It just gets too hard to think of/find lyrical titles for every post.

Mea Maxima Culpa

On January 24, we had Elder L. Tom Perry give our weekly devotional here at BYU-Idaho. It was kind of a big deal. He gave a really great (of course - he is an apostle of the Lord, after all) talk of building "Scaffolding for our Lives".

The next week, Brother Dale Sturm - the chair of our religious education department - gave a devotional entitled "Faith is a Decision". It was also very good. In fact, I liked it so much that I told Rachel I thought it was even better than Elder Perry's.
She looked at me like I was an absolute heathen.
The next day, Ashley, who had not been able to come to devotional with us, came home saying that her religion teacher highly recommended Brother Sturm's talk and that he thought it was even better than Elder Perry's.
Rachel must think she's on a campus full of apostates, but I feel justified, now, in sharing this link, because, really, it was very good.

(I'm not necessarily encouraging you to listen to this in your spare time (because I know we all come home from church each week with a reading list as long as our arms that people have strongly encouraged (my, isn't this post full of italics?) us to read), but if you need to give any kind of lesson of your choosing in the near future, this is a *gooder.)

*Did you know "gooder" is a Canadian word?

Children Will Listen Pt 4

I was in my religion class and my teacher, Brother Calderwood, related a story to us about fly fishing with his friend. At one point he jokingly stole his friend's lure so that the other guy was no longer catching anything. When the friend finally realized what had caused his sudden change in luck, he turned back to Brother Calderwood and said,

"You give me back that lure right now, you cotton-picker!"

I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one in the class casting cautious glances over at the lone black kid in our class.

Flow It, Show It, Long As I Can Grow It

When you live in an apartment with 4 other girls, there tends to be an abundance of hair in the area. And with so little room to be dispersed in, it tends to get a little dense.
It's always embarrassing when you're all down on the floor to begin playing a game and one of the guys picks up a huge hairball from the carpet before he can start dealing the cards. (We vacuum regularly, I swear!)

And speaking of vacuuming, Robbi took the time to clean out our apartment vacuum to make it run a little better, and this is what she found:


Yeah, it's super gross.

I even found hair in the freezer as I was cleaning it out at the end of last semester.
Don't ask me. I don't know, either.

So We're Breaking Free

Here in Apartment 205, we can get a little rambunctious.
Rachel and Alex definitely take the cake, though.




I think I'm beginning to understand why 105 hates us so much.

My, My, I Should Not Have Let You Go

I should know this by now, I really should. I just keep forgetting. So I groan and gripe about it and put it off until I have to sign up for a class that makes me. And then I love it.

That's right, I said it: I love the gym.

As required by my major, I am enrolled in a Health Science class. I started the class hoping that there would be no performance aspect to my mark - I am totally okay with learning how to be healthy, but don't ask me to actually internalize any of it - but no such luck. The teacher required us to create and sign three contracts regarding improved health and wellness. And one of them had to specifically involve physical fitness. Gah!
I made my goal to make it to the gym for at least 30 minutes once a week. Now, I know it sounds a little pitiful - some people were agreeing to increase their physical activity by 150 minutes or more per week - but let's keep in mind that I only found out where the gym even is 2 weeks ago and I only got around to buying my own BYU-I approved gym wear 4 days ago. So I figure these are some pretty big steps I'm taking.

Anyways, long story short, I went to the gym, very reluctantly. And I enjoyed it. So I went again with my roommates to play wallyball. And loved it.
Then I even found myself trying to rearrange my schedule so that I could go to the gym for a third time in a week - well beyond what I'd previously agreed to. It's craziness, I tell ya. Craziness.

Don't tell my roommates, though. After the big stink I originally made about having to sign these contracts, I'd feel a little silly if they found out it was all just a big lie.