Preference, Camping Out and a Whole Lot of Snow!

For such a short month, a lot happened in my college world! For starters, Grandma and Grandpa came up to Utah! It was great to spend time with them as well as heading over to Kevin and Julia’s for a Sunday dinner! I definitely enjoy being the favorite cousin when I’m the only one for the kids to play with! Grandma and Grandpa also took Whitney and I out to lunch at Red Brick Oven on Valentine’s Day, which came with some cute heart surprises! They were also kind enough to bring up my prom dress, which I wore to Preference! 

Lots of stress and craziness went into the Preference evening but it was totally worth it. There were 6 couples all from my ward and we went to the “Boardwalk Ball” up in the Wilk Ballroom. It was “semi-formal” and surprisingly, there were not a ton of people there.  We danced for most of the night but there was Monopoly money and cheap “prizes.” We had lots of fun in the photo booth and after the dance, we walked down the street (yes, in our huge fancy dresses) to get malts at this old fashion drive in. It was a great night! (Thanks to Julia for photo-shopping this picture…and the other creepy one as seen on Facebook. J)

My first snow angel ever in 3 + feet of fresh snow!)

The other exciting and most fun event of the school year (we all think it was one of the top 5 best nights of college thus far) was a camping trip on President’s Day weekend! My friend Devin decided Wednesday night to plan a camping trip. While I was skeptical of its occurrence and very nervous to let the boys plan it, it turned out great! We drove up Provo Canyon to Sundance and camped out in the freezing cold snow.

Devin, Isaac, Jeremey, Cortney,
Tanner, Ian, Janel, Whitney and myself!

There were 3 girls (Janel, Whit and I) and 6 boys (Cortney, Devin, Ian, Isaac, Tanner and Jeremy) It was SO cold, many times during the night I thought my toes were going to fall off! All the camping sites were covering in snow so we followed suit of everyone else and camped on the parking lot.  I think I got about an hour and forty-five minutes of sleep total! We played cards, told stories to get to know each other even better (and possibly things we didn’t need to know! ;), and laughed till some of us cried.  It was like my family camping trips where there’s always one obnoxious group of kids really loud all night…yeah, that was us J When we woke up in the morning, we all rushed into the cars because we were freezing!  It was honestly one of the most fun nights though and our group of 9 became a lot closer and better friends.

School is hard but what else is new?  I have a midterm or paper due every week up until finals so each week is hard.  I feel like I’m growing up too fast and I don’t like it! I’m trying to be on Facebook left and the boys I’m friends with are doing a “No Video Game” week this week so I’m joining them by doing my own “No Facebook” week. We’ll see how it goes! Wish me luck!

On a funny note, today in Stats the survey we looked at was how long couples dated until they became engaged at BYU.  Out of 121 married couples surveyed here, the average was 10 months. My professor said she was one of the outliers on the graph…admitting that her husband took her on 3 dates before proposing! Ohh the BYU Provo bubble. J

We had another few awesome snow times. Our ward had an activity up at Aspen Grove and it was a blast! I went sledding for the first time!!!! Janel, Whitney, Cortney and I messed around with Isaac, Wade, Lisa and Courtney.  Sledding is AWESOME and I just love the snow! I really do, sure it's cold at time but it's so much fun! So after sledding, Cortney, Janel, Whitney and I messed around for a little while longer and Cortney was so kind as to take cute pictures of us. I also played in the snow "California style" and I buried Cortney in the snow like I would at the beach and made him into a mermaid. It was awesome because the bishopric was like we have to get a picture!!!! Sadly, no one had a camera so I just had to do it again! 

On Friday night to end the boys "No Video Game" week, they had a huge group date to play board games! Cortney asked me to come with and of course, I said yes. We played Werewolf, Apples to Apples, Catch Phrase, this fun plate game, Uno, etc. It ended up being a really great night and like always, Tanner got ahold of Devin's whiteboard and started drawing expectation vs. reality pictures. Here's an example of mine :)

Well, we had so much fun in the snow we decided to go back on Saturday. Devin, Cortney, Janel, Whitney, and I drove back up to Aspen Grove area and played around in the snow for about 2 hours. It was a BLAST! There was so much snow that to get around we had to crawl rather than walk. Devin and Cortney made a snow cave, we buried Devin in the snow like a mermaid. Here's a video of the boys tackling Whitney into the snow haha. :) Snow is fun, especially for us California girls :)))

My Spiritual Start of my Week

I wanted to share an experience I had this week. As many of you know, I decided that I was going to do a “No Facebook” week because the boys I am friend’s with are doing a “No Video Game” week.  Seeing as technology and me get along a little too well, I figured it would probably help me a lot. So I started off Monday normally, except I woke up feeling a little sick. I still went to my classes but by my last class, I was feeling pretty sick and I needed to take a test by the end of the night.  I decided to go after my spin class, which was at 5 PM and then still have plenty of time to shower before FHE at 7. However, to my horror, the testing center line was outside the building towards the Brimhall building. I got in line as soon as I  got there and just ten minutes later, the line was wrapping around towards the Erying Science Center.  It was like Disneyland, where you’re in line for so long, you become friends with the people standing near you. We were all making jokes but we were all sort of annoyed and wanting this to end. I made the most of it, waiting in line for about an hour and took my test. But before I got in line, I called Whitney to ask her about something and she answered the phone crying.  Recently, two of my “roommates” have been having some issues and I’ve been trying my best to be supportive and caring when they don’t seem to like to share their problems but it is clear they have one. So now I added another person to my list of people to worry about! After FHE, I went visit teaching with my amazing companion.  She’s a very spiritual girl, very in tune with the spirit and I was excited to listen to her give the lesson about motherhood again.  The girl Kirsten we were trying to visit teach is less active in the hall, including church so we have been trying really hard to make an extra effort to reach out to her.  As we walked to her room, it was clear to me that my companion was stressed and worried about something, and was not alright.  As she began the lesson, she talked about something completely different than the lesson on motherhood—the power of the scriptures.  It was very similar to my home teaching lesson I heard on Sunday from my amazing home teachers, who are two of my best friends. I sat there in amazement, as it was exactly what I needed to hear as well.  She brought the Spirit into the room within five minutes and it was an amazing experience.  As I walked back into my room, I was overcome with emotion.  I was feeling stressed about school, worried about my roommates, and very humble to have an amazing in tune with the Spirit visit-teaching companion and home teachers.  I was texting a friend and dumped a lot of my concern and worries on him and he gave me great advice: “Everything is getting hard but that’s when [you] gotta rely on faith because its all [you] may have.” Again, I was very humble to be at BYU with friends who are able to give advice related to the Gospel.

The Lovely Snowy Sight of the Provo Temple

So with all that background information, I decided to join my friends Shelby and Emily for their weekly temple trip.  These amazing girls go every week to the temple to do baptisms.  They leave at 7:30 in the morning to eat breakfast, walk about a mile or so away, and return with hopefully plenty of time by devotional at 11 AM.  We woke up to snow (which was a WEIRD occurrence for Provo this year) and luckily our friend Janel offered to drive us over so we only had to make the walk once.  As I entered the temple, I immediately felt at peace and knew it was where I needed to be.  The temple was not crowded at all, so I didn’t have any time to ponder before confirmations but had some time before baptisms.  I opened up my Book of Mormon and began reading where I am in my Book of Mormon class—3^rd Nephi 8-12.  When I got to the chapters talking about the people who heard Christ’s voice, I became overwhelmed with confirmation from the Spirit that the words I was reading were true.  After I did baptisms, I was sitting in the viewing room waiting for Shelby and Emily.  My favorite part about the Provo Temple is that they have someone who plays hymns on the organ that is played while you are in the viewing room.  As I opened my scriptures again, the organist started playing “Where Can I Turn for Peace?”  I started crying and couldn’t keep the smile off my face.  The Spirit testified so strongly to me that through the scriptures, temple attendance, and prayer, I could find peace through Jesus Christ.  While I am still worried about my friends, I now feel that I don’t have to bear my burdens alone.  When we walked back in the snow, I felt cold but also so warm inside that I didn’t mind that it was snowing really hard. I felt that all my burdens had been lifted off and I finally felt peace.  


Emily, Shelby and I got back with plenty of time and heart attacked Whitney’s side of the room, which made me feel good that she’d come back and see she was cared for.  I decided to go to the forum even though none of my girl friends were going.  I texted Cortney and was “allowed” to sit with all the boys, which was great.  The forum was hilarious and the speaker was very inspiring from an educational standpoint.  


The day got even better when I went to Book of Mormon class where, as I said, we’re covering the chapters in third Nephi.  My professor Dr. Marsh has a teaching style where he makes jokes but also goes into a “revelation” mode and teaches with a strong spirit.  He spoke about Christ and the Atonement and went into extreme detail about the Savior’s last few days on the Earth.  I felt the Spirit so strongly in the room and the Spirit testified to me that I could continue to repent and make the necessary changes in my life to become a better person.  I started crying and the boy I was sitting next to offered me a tissue, which was kind of him.  When I left that class, I felt like I was on top of the world, motivated to change and do better.  I am amazed at what temple attendance, scripture reading, and prayer can do to one’s day.  I know that with Christ, I can make it through anything and feel peace and comfort.  I know that this Gospel is true and I’m grateful to be living in such a spiritual environment, where I have friends with the same values.  I’m grateful for a temple that is so close to me and for the people in my life who teach me so much about the Gospel.  I’m grateful for my family who loves and supports me despite my faults

End of School + Finals :P (This old post was sitting in my drafts...just posted it)

Well the end of school brought joy and happiness.....and FINALS.
I'd just like to take a moment to say that I officially survived my first college finals ever! CRAZY. This semester went by waaaaaay too fast and I can't believe I'm sitting back HOME writing this! :)

I know I didn't blog about this because I'm really behind....but we went to a really fun event called Winter Fest and it was at Seven Peaks Ice Rink. It was SO much fun but ended badly for Whitney :/ She fell chasing Devin and Isaac and fractured her wrist :( Besides that, we ice skated, danced, and ate crepes!

The weekend before finals we all studied like crazy. BYU gives us Friday off and calls it a "reading day" and everyone buckles down and studies. I kinda went crazy, literally. By Saturday I was dying to get off campus so we decided to go to Trafalga and I could use my PASS OF ALL PASSES. WOOO! We played mini golf and two rounds of laser tag followed with most of the guys trying to rock climb. Yeah...the weekend before finals....freshman year for the win?? haha

So Monday-Wednesday I had my 5 finals. BLECK. But on Wednesday at 5 PM, I was OFFICIALLY DONE. That night Lydia, Whitney and I went over and dominated in Scum against the boys. Way fun :)

Now Thursday was THE BEST DAY EVER....
I ATTENDED MY FIRST CONCERT AND IT WAS FREEEEEEE!
Anberlin did a free concert up in SLC! Janel drove me, Shelby, Spencer, Dane and Whitney up and it was literally a blast!!!! It was cold as it was outdoors but we got free t-shirts and headphones!!!!
But besides that, ANBERLIN WAS AMAZING LIVE. Like I love them as a band already but they were amazing live! We had quite the experience with the craziness of a concert but it was legit and as set me on a path to more concerts!!!

Anyways, I'm home now and happy with my family :)) More posts to come about Christmas! Until then. :)