First Week of School!! (August 28th - September 4th)

This week has been crazy! (To say the least...)

SUNDAY (August 28th)

We went to church at 8:30 in the morning, which at the time, I thought was crazy early. Now I know better (explanations to come, I promise). Our stake was splitting, because the previous year, out of the one stake, 650 missionaries had applied for missions!!! They wanted to make it easier on the stake president and bishops.

(For those reading this who are not LDS, when a young man or woman wants to serve a mission, they are required to fill out papers and go through and interviewing process with several leaders of our church. Imagine being one man and having to interview 650 young men and women in one school year! That's a lot of hours.)

When we came home, we took a 4 HOUR NAP. It was AMAZING. End of story.

Just kidding! We also put up some really pretty twinkle lights all over our ceiling. Also, when we left our room, we found out that the shrine to Alfonzo had grown!! We came back and cut up a mini watermelon with a paring knife, which was an interesting endeavor to say the least.








MONDAY (August 29th)

First day of classes! For those of you wondering what classes I'm taking, here is a list:

- Teachings and Doctrines of the Book of Mormon
- Chemistry
- American Heritage
- Biology
- Yoga
- Ballroom Dance
- World Music Cultures
- Preview of Medicine

I almost didn't make it to class on several occasions, but by some miracle I managed to find everything and make it on time!

I have a lot of time between my classes, so I usually go to the library or the Wilkinson Student Center to study during the day. I took a picture of my view from a spot in the library that I like, but I think that my favorite place to study is the Garden Court in the Wilk. There's lots of natural light, barely anyone in there, and best of all, you can eat while you study!!! (One more thing; my chemistry teacher is hilarious!! See included picture of Snape.)




















TUESDAY (August 30th)

BALLROOM DANCE AND YOGA!!!!! Literally the most fun classes on this earth. I get to wake up at 5:00 AM to be to yoga by 6:30, and then I go straight to ballroom dance from there. After that I get something at Jamba Juice (i.e. a smoothie or power bowl). Tuesday and Thursday mornings are definitely going to be my favorite, they are so energizing!!

WEDNESDAY (August 31st)

On Wednesday I found out that I have the opportunity to volunteer abroad throughout college! This summer, I am planning to go to Nicaragua. I can't wait!! The only downside is, I don't even have enough money to pay the deposit to secure my spot, so I have to figure out ways to raise money... I'm not very creative, so we'll see how this goes!!

Seriously though, I am super pumped to go to Nicaragua!! We get to build houses for the locals, teach kids and adults to read, and sandboard down an active volcano! So cool.

That evening, the bishop of our ward (congregation) asked to meet with me to discuss a calling (basically an area of responsibility in which a member of the LDS church is asked to volunteer until released from that calling). He sat me down and asked me if I would be willing to serve as the Relief Society president (basically the woman in charge of making sure all the other women in the ward are looked after and happy). I was so shocked and humbled, I literally sat there for about 30 seconds stammering and looking like an idiot. I'm still having a hard time processing it all! It is so much responsibility. He gave me a list of names, and I had to call several counselors and coordinators to help me within 48 hours. It was so much all at once!

The reason 8:30 church is late for me now is because every other Sunday, I am supposed to go in at 7:15 AM for a meeting called ward council. (!!!) In that meeting, what essentially happens is the leaders of various organizations of the ward (Relief Society president, the bishop, the leader of the men, etc.) discuss what needs to be done to better the lives of those in the congregation. When I'm not there at 7:15, I have to be there at 8:00 to meet with my counselors.

THURSDAY (September 1st)

Literally nothing happened on Thursday, but there were some funny highlights!!







Lily sent me a picture of her with all her scarves piled on top of her head. Never grow up Lily.


Karinne did some blind drawings of people here at BYU. A blind drawing is a drawing where you don't look at the paper - you have to keep your eyes focused on the subject. They are the best drawings I have ever seen in my life.










A highlight that was not so much funny as yummy - I made myself some yummy hot cocoa in my beloved brain mug! (My family will tell you this is my most prized possession, and they are right.)





FRIDAY (September 2nd)

My chemistry professor blew up some balloons in lecture! That is all.

SATURDAY (September 3rd)

Karinne and I woke up at like 10:15, and decided to go to Denny's for breakfast with some of our friends from our hall (Jenna and Emma). It was so good to eat bacon. Bacon is my soul food.

After a nap (because we did so much that day), we cleaned our dorm, which made a surprisingly big difference. It looks so much better! After that we went to CVS to get some stuff and then to Rita's, which is an Italian ice/custard place. I got key lime ice mixed with vanilla custard. :):):)

The rest of the night I studied. Until 2:00 in the morning.

Love you all!! Look for my next post next Sunday. :)