Happy!!!

Ok so I know I already posted today, but happy news!! I made A-Team! Haha apparently that's an old TV show, so no, not THAT A-Team. Haha it's the name for the group that works with freshmen coming into school. We run orientation in the summer, the Connections class the weekf before school starts, and keep in touch with the kids through the year. It's going to be an amazing opportunity and I can't wait!

Freedom!

Yay! Finals are OVER!!!! I've officially survived my first semester of college! In some ways it was easier than I expected, but in other ways a lot harder! A 3.5 is a lot harder to get here than it was in high school! I still don't know what my final grades all were... I got a 93% on my Geography final though! I thought it would be better, but oh well :) All I know is that I'll have to work my butt off next semester! I have scholarships to keep so by the end of the year I have to have a 3.5... I'm taking some way hard classes so it will be pretty intense, but one of those hard classes is Anatomy which I LOVE so that will help make it easier.
I get to go home on Tuesday! I can't wait! This will be the first time I've been home since August so it will be great. I'm definitely in need of a break so this will be perfect! I'm excited to see everyone and eat both real food as well as at all the places I've been having withdrawls from. In 'N Out baby!! So excited! The hard part though will be saying goodbye to my boys. Some of my best friends Seth, Shawn, and Dallin will all be leaving on their missions before I get home again. It will be hard having to say goodbye before they're even leaving. On the plus side though, Mitch is home and I haven't seen him yet so that will be fun. :)
So now I have the whole weekend to kill here by myself. Haha pretty much the whole campus is gone! It'll be good though. Get some major cleaning done and just relax. I need it after this week!

Taken for Granted

So this weekend was great! I got to do so many fun things and realized a lot of things that I didn't realize I missed while living outside of Utah. Saturday night was the basketball game against BYU down at the Delta Center. Even though we lost, it was an incredible game and we had so much fun!

After that, we went to Temple Square! I hadn't been at Christmas time in 3 years so it was so good to go back! It's such a pretty place and I'm getting married there! (haha not anytime soon, but when it does happen, that's where it will be :)) Erin and I went a little picture happy and took tons! We couldn't resist taking them in the classic wedding spots :)

After Temple Square we went to Crown Burger for dinner. Yum! I've missed it. Just as we were leaving, I ran into one of my old friends Brody. I hadn't seen him since my sopohomore year of high school, and certainly wasn't planning on seeing him there! After Crown Burger we headed home and I got to listen to my beloved Show Tune Saturday Night on KOSY 106.5! I've missed that too! So overall, Saturday was an incredible night :-) And remember Cougar fans, win or lose, you still live in Provo! Haha love you all! :)
And THEN... It SNOWED!! And it stuck! It's not a lot, but it's there! It's fantastic! I had forgotten how much I love being cold, how great slipping and sliding on the ice is, and how great it feels to be the first person to step in the fresh snow. It's beautiful! I just went for a long run out in the 23 degree weather and it felt AMAZING!!

___________________ (Fill in the blank with whatever title you find appropriate)

So I noticed it's been quite awhile since I posted... so here it goes, I just couldn't come up with a title because I honestly have no clue where I'm going with this!
So the big news of the day is that I'm done with classes! We have finals next week to still worry about, but the actual going to class and sitting through lectures part of the semester is over! And I only have 3 finals (well, 4, but it's one that's online and I don't have to take if I really don't want to) and one of them isn't going to be hard at all! My geography one is all questions STRAIGHT from our quizzes, plus we know exactly which ones 40 of the 100 are... so that's fantastic :)
Um... I get to go home in like a week and a half! It's been kind of weird being one of the few people who haven't gone home at all yet, but it's been good. I'm way excited to have a break and to spend it at home though. I miss my mom's food as well as all sorts of "Tucson-only" restaurants... In 'N Out (which I WILL have my first night home), Eegee's, and Hungry Howies. Even the Texas Roadhouse I'm closest to up here isn't as good! So yeah, it'll be good to be home and to see everyone. There's people who have gotten back from missions that I'll finally get to see, as well as boys who will be leaving before I get back again that I'll have to say goodbye to...
I guess that's all for now... I'll try to get better at this whole posting thing :) Have a great day!

Family Reunion!

Ok so they're not my REAL family, but they're pretty darn close! For 4 summers I worked at the amazing Camp Kiesel. I've only seen a couple of these great friends since I've been back in Utah! Jason Adams is leaving on his mission to New York City on Wednesday so today was his farewell in Ogden. He gave a great talk and he'll be a great missionary!

I'm car-less so my cousin Malissa went down with me and got to meet all these crazy people! It was SO good to be back with my very favorite people! We got to re-kindle our "Blonde, brunette, and a redhead" trio!

These kids are really like my family. After spending so much time with them how could they not be right? When I moved, these guys were the ones who I REALLY kept in touch with. They're great and I know I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for them! Thanks guys! You're the best! I love you all so much!

Park City!

So this weekend, we went on an Area Government retreat to Park City. It was great fun and we only had to pay $15! We were up right close to the ski resorts and were staying in this super nice condo. Get this, right now, the condo only cost $250 a night, once peak ski season hits they'll cost around $1500 a night, Sundance Film Festival? They cost about $3000. I can't even imagine how much they cost during the Olympics! Anyway, it was way nice! Huge, with tons of beds, a hot tub, a pool table, everything!
On Friday night when we first got there we had time to do whatever we wanted. We made a couple runs to the grocery store, went hot tubbing, etc. The rest of the night was devoted to what's called "Johari's Window." It's an AMAZING thing! Since I was one of the few people there who'd done it before, I got to lead one of the groups in it. Basically, you have a big square on your paper that's divided into 4 sections. The first one is your "public" area, basicall stuff that isn't a big deal, stuff that pretty much everyone knows about you; personality, likes and dislikes, etc. The next one is the "hidden" area. This is the place for things that are important in your life, but that most people don't know. Maybe a few people, but it's really things that only you know. The third section is your "blind" area. This is where you put questions about yourself that you'd honestly like to know the answer to; 'what was your first impression of me?' 'what is my best quality?' etc. The last section is your "unknown" area. This is for the things that NO ONE (not even yourself) knows about you. Like, questions about what your future holds, etc. Now the catch to filling out this square is that you share it with everyone in your group. It's a group of people that you know can be trusted and there's no judging aloud. It's an incredible experience. Not only do you learn a ton about everyone else there, but you learn a whole lot about yourself as well.

The next morning we all slept in (Johari's Window takes a long time, we were going until 2 am!) and then had breakfast. Afterwards, we got to hit up the ever popluar Park City outlet malls! Yay for shopping :-) Haha I was walking around with a couple guys for most of the time so I found out a lot about guys preferences in girls clothing, and they found out girls preferences! I actually helped my friend Chris pick out a pretty sick Fossil watch, and then my friend Ryan was getting his girlfriend's birthday present and requested my assistance.

For me, the very best part of the whole weekend had nothing really to do with Area Government. There's a guy who I met when he was serving his mission in Tucson and he got home about 2 weeks before I moved up to school. He's from Salt Lake, but was happening to be in Park City for a ski/snowboard swap meet. So I got permission from Justin for KJ (haha not Elder Hawkins anymore!) to stop by. So he got there at like 10:30 Friday night, and ended up staying for Johari's Window and everything. It was so great to see him again! We were both worried it would be kind of weird to see each other after so long and in such different circumstances but it wasn't! It was totally natural! After he left we ended up texting until about 3 in the morning, talking about the night, his mission, etc. And... I'm going to his house for Thanksgiving! Haha I'm way excited :-)

So anyway, I think this post is long enough. I'll let you go now. Overall though, it was a great weekend and I wish every weekend could be like that!

A Dream Come True!

So last night I went to the Jon Schmidt concert. Again. Haha it was my 4th time seeing him live, but it was the first full-length one I'd been to. He played for 2 hours and it just flew by! I honestly could have sat there for DAYS and been just fine. It was the perfect show! He did all his classics that everyone loves, Waterfall, Dumb Song, All of Me, etc. He threw in some of his new stuff coming out, as well as a Christmas one. Then, one of his very last songs was my very favorite one. Tribute! I love it, and in all the 3 times I'd seen him previously he hadn't played it. It was incredible. It made me cry it was so beautiful! Pathetitc? Maybe, but I don't care. I seriously am in awe by him and his talent. I wish I could be like him! And... I finally got to meet him! He came out after to do signings and pictures and everything. I got one of my books of his music signed, but my camera batteries had died, so no picture. But it was still way fun! I actually get to see him again in like a month and a half. He always brings his Christmas show to Phoenix and I'm actually going this year!
And then, to top off my dreams come true...
Tonight is one of the CES firesides that happen a few times each year. They're held down at BYU and every time, they have a choir performing. Ever since I've watched them I've wanted to be in that choir. Well, I'm in the institute choir up here at school, and on the first day of class we found out that we get to! We're singing tonight! It will be amazing! I can't wait! Everyone should watch it! It's at 6:00 and you can watch at your local stake center, or it'll be on TV, probably at the same times? Check KBYU and/or BYU tv. It's going to be awesome!