Coming Up For Air

Finals are DONE!!  Winter Semester is DONE!!  Just in time for spring term to start on Tuesday ... bought all my books today and am just trying to enjoy the lack of things to do before the storm begins!  So here's a quick little update to let you know that I'm still alive.

Also, my roomie is back!! :D Throwback Thursday on a Saturday in her honor!

July 2011

Also, I got a new job!  Well, a new position within the place I work- if that makes sense.  I'll be working in an office now working on a computer rather than on the floor dealing with ten missing employees all at once.  I started training last week, and the person who is currently doing it will be graduating in August so I have four months to learn everything! 

A White Chick from Next to the Boondocks

(This post is an assignment for my Foundations of Multicultural Education class.)

Jerald and Loraine Anderson

I chose this picture to represent my grandmother and her influence on me.  My grandmother passed away in the early 80s from cancer, so obviously I have never walked with her on this Earth in a physical body.  However, I have felt her influence in my life many times and I can pinpoint specific moments when I know that my grandmother is with me.  My mother always used to talk about my grandmother's love of learning and how smart she was.  I wanted to be smart just like my grandmother in heaven.  I know that she and I had a relationship in heaven because I can feel it whenever I think about her.  I admire her love of learning and as such strive to take advantage of all the learning experiences which I have the opportunity to enjoy.  Also represented in this picture is my love of family and belief that we can one day be reunited with our loved ones in the spirit world.  My grandfather passed away just over five years ago and I know he and my grandmother are happy and reunited now just as they were in this picture on their wedding day.

Cougareat Food Court Logo

I chose to include where I work as part of my cultural diorama because of all I have learned while working there that has helped to shape my character.  I have been a part of the management for about three years and in that amount of time I have learned a lot about respect, communication, sacred resources, stewardship, and responsibility (just to name a few).  Because of the experiences which I have had there as a member of the management team, I have been able to pinpoint what kind of impact I want to have on those whom I come in contact with and how I want to be viewed by others.  Certain other members of the management team have been examples which I have looked up to because of the influence which they have on others and the respect which they have for others and their values.

Marching Band Competition- Megs and Me

In high school, I was a part of the marching band and learned A LOT.  I joined my freshman year and remember how much I hated band camp- it was SO hard and I felt like I wasn't getting it and I was doing everything wrong.  Junior year, I quit.  After quitting, I realized how much I missed the music and how much the joy really was worth all of the hard work that went into each show, each performance, each set.  I learned to value hard work and endurance for the reward that comes after.  Our directors had a vision for our band to become one of the greatest in the state.  We attended intense competitions that pushed our small band to its limits.  Our band program was not made up of a lot of people.  Our principal put so much more emphasis on the sports than any of the arts programs and they all suffered from it.  Despite this challenge from forces beyond their control, our directors had instilled in us that we could still be the best band in the state.  No matter what others say or think about you, the most important thing is that you be your best self.  We learned that you can set your goals however high you want as long as you are willing to work hard enough to reach them.   (After marching season of junior year concluded, I rejoined for my senior year.) 

They Did The Monster Mash!

Happy All Hallow's Eve Everyone!

We dressed up Chick-fil-A like the magical land of Oz!  It was so great!!  We had lots of different costumes from munchkins to the great wizard himself!!

The student managers chose Disney villains as our theme.  I dressed up as the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland!  We also had Yzma, Hades, and the Evil Queen.

Check out the Cougareat's facebook page for more awesome pics!

For Halloween Night festivities ... 

We partied it up at a tri-stake Halloween dance at the Eclipse Warehouse near the Trax station!

Jenna and I went as cats!

What was your costume?? 

(I'll bet it was AMAZING!)

Any fan favorites??

(We had Rufio and Bob Ross at our ward party!)

I Love My Job

I remember when my other siblings were trying to get jobs.  And I remember the times they specifically refused to even apply for a job in "fast food".  I know of others whom I am not related to that look down on those with jobs in fast food.  I am here today to stand up for the fast food jobs a.k.a quick service jobs and say that I love my job.  True, it's not glamorous; it's usually very messy; it's not the best pay in the world; it's not easy.  But it's totally worth it to put a smile on someone's face :]

I get to serve people directly and indirectly, every day!  And I get paid to do it!  I get to make every person who I see smile!  I get to work with amazing, honest people!  And the best part about my job is that it's through BYU!  My job works with my class schedule and I'm surrounded by people who are just like me!  They're poor college students just trying to be able to pay the rent on time and pass their classes, and they all believe the same things that I believe!  

I've worked in the Cougareat for three years now.  My supervisors are all great!  My co-workers are super fun, and I love all my employees!!  We opened a brand new store on campus this week (Eat Mor Chikin!) and everyone made it amazing!  I'm proud to be working at our new store, I'm proud that I am part of the Cougareat, and I'm super proud to have a "fast food" job :]

New Semester, New Roommates!

This is Ariel (not like the everyone else says the Disney princess' name, but like Sebastian says it):

I had to find a funny picture ... but she's actually quite gorgeous :]

Told you.

She's super fun! We've already decided to do movie nights at our apartment every week and she's agreed to go dress shopping with me (I am in sore need of a new dress ...). :]  She's also an RA with me, so we have fun in all kinds of ways (like cleaning checks!  Those are fun, right? ... *fake smile*)

And we thought it would be just the two of us.  Super fun, super small, and super carefree!

But on Monday, I got a call from the Office asking if I would mind another roommate.

So, without further ado, this is Lu (I can't say or spell her real name, but we've decided to call her Lu)

I should get points for this creeper shot :]

She's from Taiwan and she's SO sweet!!  When I left for work this morning, I told her I would be back around eight o'clock tonight.  She said, "Oh, it's so long!" and gave me a hug like we'd never see each other again!  She's just learning English (sound familiar, anyone?), so it's kind of hard to communicate sometimes, but we're getting along quite well and she's very talkative for not knowing a lot of English. :]

In other news, after work this week, I will be rollin' in the dough, if you know what I mean.  During the school year, since we're all also students, we have a limit of 20 hours a week.  But during the summer, we can go up to 40 hours.  And it just so happens that these past two weeks are two of the three busiest weeks of the year: Finals week and Women's Conference.  Final's week is busy just because of all the people trying to find subs for their shifts.  It's amazing how many more phone calls you get when you can work anywhere in the Food Court ... jus' sayin'.  Women's Conference involves bajillions of women coming to campus for two days and spending about 40-50 dollars in that amount of time on food alone ... they like their BYU brownies ... and their Navajo Tacos ... and their BYU ice cream ... and their Subway ... and their salads ... And we have to have double the winter crew size, but with half of the people.  Needless to say ... it's SO fun ... and crazier than a chihuahua at a piccolo concert.  Between those two days, I'm scheduled for 24 hours ...

Thursday + Friday = more hours than I am allowed to work in a normal fall/winter week ... 

It's gonna be ballin'!  

Je suis hereuse que j'aprend francaise parce que maintenant, je comprend ce blague. :]

COOKIES ON LINE 1!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello my imaginary audience!!!  Time for an almost weekly update!!!

First things first . . . (what a confusing statement; of course if something is first, then it's the first thing you do) anyways, I got the Student Manager Job!!!!!  :] Yay!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm super excited!!!!!  It's going to be a lot of work, (seriously, I have a ton of training to get done by December 1) but I'm excited about it for a lot of reasons, mostly because it will be a personal challenge for me and allow me to strengthen myself and push my limits until what used to be my limits aren't my limits anymore, but have become my norms.  In the past, I've looked at the Student Managers and I've admired most of them; they're so . . . legit.  Seriously, most of them are totally awesome and know a lot of stuff about the Cougareat in general and are the kind of people I want to eventually be like.  To me, this is just another step to becoming the best me that I can possibly be.

Oh yeah, and this.

Pre- Education Week

The most stressful time of the summer . . . Education Week.  To prove how stressful Education Week is, I would like to share the dream I had last night with you all.  Last night, I dreamed I went home for the weekend (which is just silly; why would I go across the country for two days?  It's silly.) and then I woke up on Monday morning and it was the first day of education week and I had to be at work at 11:30 and for some reason or other, we were driving across the country and my Mom kept saying, "Don't worry, we'll make it!"  I couldn't find my shoes and my work clothes were dirty and my cell phone kept going off (it was, of course, my boss, wondering where I was).  And then, my boss was about to fire me, when I woke up and had to go to the bathroom.  Anyway . . . it was just weird.  So today wasn't too bad.  People were lining up before we even opened (at 11am) and the people didn't stop until about 2pm.  After that, it was pretty slow (time to prep for tomorrow).  I am SOO ready for this week to be over and for fall semester to start!