The Best Days

Okay, everyone.  Here's where my "cougar-blood" comes out.


Saturday: BYU and SDSU clashed in an epic battle; prior to the game, BYU was ranked no. 7 in the nation and SDSU was ranked no. 4.  Now, BYU has played SDSU already this season in conference play at the Marriot Center, here in Provo.  It was epic and a phenomenal game!!  BYU didn't beat SDSU; we wiped the floor with them!!  It was one of the best days of my life. (That's not sad- it's dedicated.) On Saturday, BYU traveled to San Diego and we played them again- on their turf.  Supposedly, they had the advantage.  Supposedly, BYU was going to lose.  Supposedly, all faith in The Jimmer had been lost.  The roommate and I, unable to watch the actual game on TV, watched the play-by-play on CBS with baited breath.  Every basket from our boys warranted a cheer!  Every foul on our boys made us all the more anxious.  Half-time saw BYU in the lead, but SDSU close behind.  I was getting really nervous.  The roommate worried with me.  And then, in the second half, it happened.  Our boys put on their game faces and widened the gap between us and them; and won the Clash of the Titans. BYU 80 SDSU 67 
And thus, Saturday became one of the best days of my life.

Sunday:  I've always enjoyed Sundays and attending church here in Provo.  It's always such a great, spiritual experience.  We talked about some really good stuff in Relief Society, in Sunday School, and in Sacrament Meeting.  We also had a fireside that evening on missionary work, which was wonderful!  Prior to the fireside, we, my roommates and I, were asked to bring some kind of refreshment for everyone to enjoy.  So, Selene helped me make my infamous brownies. (and they turned out quite well!) We took the brownies to the fireside and enjoyed said fireside.  Once it was over and everyone was milling around, eating refreshments, we decided we needed to go.  (It was dark and we were walking home and starting to get really cold.) We grabbed our brownie pan, somewhat miffed that there was still a large number of brownies.  Gail does not eat chocolate, so I don't like to have chocolate stuff in the apartment.  Personally, I would rather not have them there at all because them I'll eat them and I don't want that.  So, I asked someone (an anonymous male) if he would enjoy having our leftover brownies.  And what male would ever turn down such a succulent offering?  So, Gail and I took this pan half full of brownies over to the apartment of this anonymous male.  *** Pause!*** I have a confession to make: I like this anonymous male (hereafter referred to as A.M.).  I think he is a really nice guy, he's funny, he's fun to hang out with, he reminds me of my older brother (except smarter), and I think he's very attractive. (I have no qualms about putting this on my blog, because I'm 85% confident that he doesn't read my blog.)  ***Unpause!*** So, A.M. invited us in to his apartment and relieved us of all our brownies (thank goodness).  We sat around and chilled and talked for about two hours.  It was very nice and somewhat relaxing after a very stressful week.  Finally, I bucked up enough courage to do something that had been stressing me for four days.  I asked A.M. to come to our fun-filled apartment date night next Friday.  (Explanation of fun-filled apartment date night: We (mostly Gail and I) decided to each ask a guy (preferably a guy whom who had had our eye on) over to our apartment and proceed to treat them to a wonderfully thrilling and exciting evening.  I, of course, wanted to ask A.M.  And after giving offerings of delicious baked goods, and psyching myself out, I did it.  He said yes! :)
And thus, Sunday became one of the best days of my life.

Monday:  Ahhh, Monday.  Back to the grindstone.  The day started just like any other- physical science at 9 am.  We laughed, we puzzled, we blew things up, and we continued on our way.  I went to work where I heard a phenomenally exciting rumor.  "Hey!  Did you hear that BYU is ranked third in the nation?!"  Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaat????????????????  After leaving work, I had to check.  It was essential to the rest of my day!  I quickly journeyed to stats class and opened the internet on my laptop.  I waited for what seemed like an eternity before I reached www.espn.com!  And then, to my joy and delight, the rumors were confirmed.  Number 3 in the nation: Brigham Young University. 
And thus, Monday became one of the best days of my life.

Going Up the Down Escalator

Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in one of my favorite activities with some of the most wonderful people in the world; I went shopping at the mall with my roommates!  We had a particularly grand time, and I am especially enjoying my new shoes. 
One of our stops was at Macy's, where there are escalators.  As Selene and I were walking past the down escalator, I saw a little boy walking on the escalator.  It was completely normal except for one thing and at this point, you've probably guessed what he was really doing.  He was walking up the down escalator, doing what every person has wanted to do at least once in their life.  And then, I realized there is a valuable lesson to be learned here and it just happens to in be in concurrence with my view on life! 
This life is like an escalator; sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down.  Sometimes it's really crowded and sometimes you're the only one on the ride.  And sometimes people walk up the down escalators.
We've all been on the down escalator at least once in our lives, maybe even more: a loved one passes away, a friend loses a job, it's raining and you forgot your umbrella, you haven't been forgiven for an honest mistake.  Lots of things happen everyday that can potentially carry us down on that down escalator by just going with the flow.  I hate feeling that way.  I hate feeling depressed or angry or sad; it's just not any fun!  And no one wants to be around you when you're in that kind of mood.  So, what's the best way to get rid of that feeling and stop going down?  Go up!!  Even when you're on the down escalator and everything going on around you tells you to just go on down and no one would blame you for being that way (After all, you're escalator is going down!), go against the flow and go up!  There is always, always, always at least one reason to smile and be happy!  Yes, it does a take a certain amount of effort to go up the down escalator.  It does take effort to look past all the negative stuff that Satan is trying to bring you down with and just be happy!  But everyday you do it, it gets easier and easier!  This semester, I have been trying to just be happy no matter what is going on around me.  And guess what?!  It's contagious!  When you're happy, everyone else around you starts to be happy, too!  It's a crazy phenomenon!  Don't you just love being around people who are happy?  I do!!  Even the Lord told us to "be of good cheer!" 
So take this opportunity when you are just relaxing and enjoying your free time to decide how you're going to handle those down escalators.  It's easy to just always go with the flow, for sure.  And there's not anything wrong with going with the flow, rolling with the punches.  But can you challenge yourself?  Can you do it?  for just one week, try to be happy no matter what.  Look for the positive, for something good about your day.  Even when it's hard.  I promise you'll love it!

You're a Log!

Well, we had ward conference today and the stake president spoke.  He compared us all to logs; if you take one out of the campfire, it burns out pretty quickly and it's not very . . . impressive.  But, when you pile a bunch of logs together and set them on fire, they burn brightly and for a good long while.  We are each like logs- on our own, we can't do very much and we don't last very long.  We need each other in order to not only survive, but also thrive in this crazy world!
(Sorry, this entry is super short, but better a short one than not one at all!)

Rise and Shout 'Cause This One's for the Girls

Well, this week has finally come to a close.  And through collaborative efforts with my roommates, I have come to a conclusion:

Boys Suck.

Outrageous, say ye?  Nonsense?  Perhaps even poppycock?  Allow me to explain.

First, our story begins with a girl.  Any girl; take your pick.  And this girl meets this really wonderfully splendiferous guy.  In fact, he's so wonderfully splendiferous that you can't call him just a guy or even a boy; he's a man.  Over a period of time and through a series of interactions, they become friends.  And she realizes that he's more than just a friend to her; he's become so much more.  Yes, she's got a crush.  His witticisms and creativity are better than the sunshine on a cold day in Provo.  His laugh is like the music which she loves so dearly.  He makes any bad day better almost the second he walks into the room.  And maybe he's not perfect, but he's still just about everything she's ever dreamed of in a man.  She thinks about him at least once a day.  She sees him in her every dream.  She smiles almost constantly while in his presence, and she is sure that her face turns five shades of crimson when he smiles.  There's just one problem: he seems to be completely oblivious to it all.  Everyday she wonders if today will be the day when he will realize what has happened to her; she wonders if he does know and if that smile means anything more than just a smile.  Essentially, because of this crush and this uncertainty which he causes, she cannot sleep, cannot eat, cannot even go to class without thinking about him and being tortured by not knowing what he thinks about what she thinks or if he even knows what she thinks.  And for this reason, boys suck.

In other news, the Cougars have conquered the Utes once again!!  Great basketball game today by the whole team, especially Charles Abouo and Jackson Emery. 
And now, I must return to the days of Sir Ulrich van Lichtenstein.

Of Ice and Smiles

Tonight (after a gruelling hour and a half of stats homework with Study Buddy), one of my friends started chatting with me on the social network that 95% of the world is a member of (aka facebook).  He was somewhat discouraged and informed me that today had been a bad day for him.  This is for you, bud.

Life is hard.  I think we can all agree that this statement is true.  If you've had an easy life,

you haven't really lived.  Sometimes good things happen and sometimes not-so-good things happen.

We can't always choose when or where or what.  It's just part of the facts of life.

But we can choose how those things affect us. 

Example:

Today, I slipped on the ice (again).  Slipping on the ice is not fun; in fact, it pretty much sucks. 

But after this single event occured, I had two choices:

a) I could cry, be mad at myself and my ungracefulness and go to class in a bad mood or

b) I could smile, laugh at myself and my ungracefulness and continue on to class as if nothing happened.

Fortunately for me (and possibly everyone else I interacted with today), I chose the latter. 

No, we can't choose what happens to us. 

Our agency to make choices comes in how we react to everyday situations. 

You can decide to be happy no matter what happens and have a relatively good day

or you can let every little less-than-positive thing that happens affect you in a negative manner and have a really bad day. 

The choice is yours. 

Get up in the morning, determined to have a good day and you will! 

Focus on the good stuff and I promise you'll end everyday with a smile.

Like this:



Torrey, Jeff, Emma Jo, and Anna (Lovely smiles)

 

Michael (Very happy guy)

Me, Yachi, Gail, and Stephanie (What better time to smile than when you're with friends)

Murphy (ALWAYS smiling)



Me and my smile



So do yourself a favor:

SMILE :) 

Wallowing in Wonderful Wraps and Windy Days

Ah, Mondays . . . the start of a new week . . . also one of my busier days . . . which began at 7am this morning, preparing for classes and the day. 
9am: Physical Science Synopsis
The Princess Bride + frozen balloons = WIN
10:45-12:45: Work at L&T
This is one of my new haunts- L&T Produce in the Cougareat.  We make wraps and salads which are pretty much the best thing on the face of the Earth besides peanut butter and big brothers.  Normally two other people are supposed to be there with me- however, one of them got promoted to Student Manager so she now works pretty much everywhere but L&T and the other one somehow forgot he had work today (which I don't understand because the schedule is the same every week . . . ) so it was just me and the supervisor wrapping and dressing and trying not to cut each other.  Overall, a grand time.
1pm: Stats (Someone Talking About Terrible Stuff)
I got lost in class today . . . turned to my studdy buddy sitting next to me and asked if he had any idea what was going on: " . . . nope.  . . . " alrighty then . . . But, after I got home tonight, I reread the chapter and I think I have located the ever illusive concept of Regression and Residuals.
2pm: More wraps
After stats, my study buddy and I went and met my oh-so-amazing roommate outside the Cougareat and got lunch!  I, of course, got a yummilicous BBQ Chicken Wrap from L&T. 
3pm: Back to the grindstone with (dun dun dun) Parenting
Forgot that my professor wasn't going to be in class today and we would be having one of his graduate students teach the lecture instead.  Not too bad, actually.  We talked about Finding Nemo and Marlin, the overprotective parent.
4pm: Colombia and Armadillos (aka World Music Cultures)
"Apparently this guy looked like an armadillo, and so you have to write a song about it because he looked like an armadillo."
And then I was going to go run and burn some calories while getting some things sorted out in my head when suddenly . . . it started to get windy- really windy.  My roommate had waited for me because she was going to walk home with me after I finished running and we decided that we should probably go ahead and head home before it got any worse.  And so through freezing snow and blistering wind, we made the journey home.
6:40pm: Congregation
At this pre-appointed hour, people began to show up at our apartment for FHE.  Tonight, we went to our stake representative's house.  And I had a sudden realization.  Our new FHE group . . . is us plus three boys apartments . . . four against twelve (Although, tonight there was only five of them.  But, there could potentially be twelve, especially since tonight we were fatherless).  Dear Group 1, I miss you.  During our most excellent meal of cheddar and potato soup, I discovered not one, but two returned missionaries from the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission who knew my brother!  Sweet-ness!! 
After FHE, we returned to our humble abode where Gail and I did homework, planned secret things of secret-ness and had a generally wonderful evening.
Adieu.

I Love Cheese

I did promise that there would always be something happy in every post, but I do have some bad things about today.  First off, my lovely roommate is getting sick, which means that I inevitably will be.  I just hope she gets better soon!  Second, the channel we watched the super bowl in is whacked out and we could only see the score for the Packers throughout the entire game.  That's right- no time clock, no downs, and no Steelers for us.  But the rest of today was pretty awesome.
This may be my biggest confession ever: Today was the first time I have ever watched the superbowl.  I know, right?  I'm just more of a basketball person and my parents aren't sports people by any means, so growing up we never watched the superbowl.  But, my roommate's and I decided to watch it (mostly for the commercials) and so we did.  I figured that since the Green Bay G looks like the UGA one and they use the same colors as my roommate's team (Oregon), it would be appropriate for me to root for the Packers.  Also, they're from Wisconsin, and who doesn't love cheese?  And despite multiple injuries on their team, the Packers pulled it off with a 6 point win.
But enough about football; we only really watch the superbowl for the commercials, right?  A few personal favorites today: the darth vader commercial, "our house," JB and Ozzy, and BYU Doritos commercial. 
Darth Vader:
Honestly, how could anyone not love this commercial?  What could be better than a small child in a vader suit and a VW?  Too cute.
"Our House:"
Okay, I LOVE House!!  He's so funny!  (Not to mention, Chase is a hot Australian.)  And the our house cheer was one that we, the marching band, started at almost every home football game.  Epic.
JB and Ozzy:
Okay, first off Ozzy is so messed up, he's hilarious to watch.  Second: "What's a Bieber?  I don't know, but it looks like a girl."  Need I say more?
BYU Doritos Commercial:
For those of you who don't know, this was the one where he licked the guys fingers and then ripped another guys pants off.  I agree that the cheese is the best part!  Really, if you're eating any kind of chips, the best part is licking your fingers afterwards! 
Also, some great movies had spots in today's game.  What I'm excited for: Rango (looks so hilarious!), Fast Five (Vin Diesel, The Rock, and Paul Walker- can it get any more manly??!), Thor (need I say anything?), Captain America (ditto), and (probably what I'm most excited for) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (take away Orlando and Kierra, add Blackbeard to the best pirate of all time and it can't get any better!).
And now we come to halftime.  Halftime today made me hate Fergie and start to strongly dislike The Black-Eyed Peas.  As some tweeters commented, the half-time show consisted of auto-tuning, left-over tron costumes, and Usher attempting to save the show.  My favorite tweet about halftime: Usher eating a bowl of black-eyed peas would have been better than that.  However, my roommates and I made it somewhat better by eating peanut butter crunch pie from our neighbor for Selene's birthday tomorrow. 
And on that note, I bid you a happy Sunday.

So this is blogging . . .

Hello, everyone!!  So, I was feeling somewhat random tonight and saw my cousin's blog . . . and realized what a great way it was to keep everyone updated with what's going on!  Sure, facebook works really well, but only if you also have a facebook; emailing doesn't happen very often; and I don't have very many contacts on skype, either.  So, I decided to become a blogger!  Hopefully, this will work out and I will be able to keep it up everyday-ish!