Mmm Mmm PIE!

Yesterday morning I woke up and ate pie for breakfast. I love Thanksgiving!

Update!

Hey everyone, I'm still here. No worries. My life has been kind of crazy lately. I've had a lot going on. With Thanksgiving coming up, all my teachers seem to think they should give alot of homework and lots of tests. Oh goodie.

Speaking of Thanksgiving...I'm SO SO SO excited to come home! I've missed Mesa alot. It's going to be WARM! I don't think I can express my deep love for warm weather. It hasn't snowed substantially yet, but its been so cold. Too cold for me. I am really excited to meet my sister-in-laws parents. They are from Guatemala and they don't speak English. Here is my chance to use my Spanish!!

So...other news of note....uh....i'm kind of dating someone. :)

Tag, I'm it!

Heather tagged me, so I thought this would be fun. What you are supposed to do is go to your fourth picture file and then your fourth picture and give a little narrative about it.



Well, here you are. I have to admit, this is one of the funniest pictures I own. This is me and my friend Suzanne Tutt last year. I had just got home from a bad date and we were the only ones home. So of course we decided to dress like freaks. We dressed like this and then had our friend Limher come over and video tape us doing a dance to Shania Twain's "UP!" Pretty fantastic, wouldn't you say?? Here's the full body shot to this picture:


I'm loving the teal spandex.

Rainy days, Cancellations , and Proven Theories

Today it has been "raining" all day so far. I put "raining" in quotes because it isn't any normal rain. It's mist. It feels like there is a permanent mister above me head at all time. Annoying. I like the AZ rain because its warm.

Anyways, today I went to my 9:00 class and it was canceled. BEAUTIFUL! I went to a computer lab and got some much-needed study time. How fortunate. This has been at least the 5th time my teacher has canceled class and i'm not complaining.

Well today I had to take a small test for my Microbiology class (aka class of death). I was not excited (who would be anyway?) because on my last test I studied the hardest I ever had and got the worst grade I've ever received in that class. I was so angry and I still was as I sat down to study for the test today. Suddenly, I had a thought: what if I just don't study? I don't think I could do any worse than I usually do. It's a risky theory, but I decided to roll with it. I didn't know the material at all, but I walked into the testing center and took the test from them without having studied. The 25 question test took me 9 minutes. I walked down the stairs to where the grades show up and guess what? I got an 88%!!!! The best i've ever done!! My theory totally works! I wonder if it would work for all of my class?? Hm....I don't think i'm brave enough to test that one out.

Late nights....

Don't you just love them sometimes? I love it when my roommates and I just sit up for hours talking to each other about everything going on in life. Last night was one such night. Suz and I went to Springville with some friends from our ward and made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. YUM! Then we all played hide and go seek in the dark for like an hour and a half. Then we watched Superman. It's a great show. It was way fun just getting away from Provo for awhile and spending time with some really cool people.

When I got home around 2:30, my roommates Lanae and Kristi were still awake (they both had dates last night) so we were all talking about that exciting-ness. I got asked on a date too! That was exciting! I'm going to a hockey game-I don't really know much about it but it should be fun.

Here you go Dad...I'm finally going to my first BYU football game!!! I'm leaving pretty soon here and I'm stoked! The only thing i'm wary about is the cold. It's only like 40 degrees outside. Oh well, I'm a true blue so I'll pull through it.

Sorry this post is really random. I'm just writing as things come to mind. Stream of conciousness? AP english taught me something. And I thought it was a waste. What was I thinking?

Pumpkinpalooza!

For FHE on Monday, we had a pumkin carving contest- boys versus girls. We carved Mike Wisowski (from Monsters Inc.) and the guys, well....they carved something. Afterwards we went to random apartments and had them vote. We won.

Man the guns

Today I came home and, like always, I asked anyone if they got the mail already. Mail time is such an exciting thing in my life. Going to the mailbox can make my whole day, especially if I get something! Today I came home and Suzanne told me that we got a postcard. This is what it looked like:
Interesting, eh? It had a Frank Sinatra stamp, which is kinda cool. Well it gets better. The postcard was from a companion of one of my friends from high school. Elder Payne. The weird thing was that it was addressed to "Becky Tutt." Who in the world is that? I mean, I'm Becky Barney and I have a roommate named Suzanne Tutt, but there is definitely no Becky Tutt. Just for kicks, I'm going to post the contents of my/Suzanne's postcard.


"Dear Becky,

How are you? My name is Elder Payne. I am Elder Fine's companion here is New Orleans AKA the Jungle. I though it would be fun to write you. So how do you like going to BYU? When I get home I want to go to UVU then transfer to BYU. Well I really enjoy sports and being with really awesome people. Elder Fine tells me your really cool. [**Sounds like this guy really enjoys the word "really"] Well it would be awesome to hear from you sometime. Well take care and have a sweet day."


Cool. Other than the randomness of the postcard, he seems like a nice guy. I really think the letter is meant for me. I mean, who else would he be referring to when he said Adam thinks i'm cool? Suz, if you're reading this, I'm just kidding. But kinda not. And I really am.

Anywho, a guy in my ward almost ate my goldfish. I put up a fight for them, but I think it would've been cool if he had actually done it. Too bad he chickened out. And he's supposed to be my soul mate too! Now I just think he's too wimpy for me.

To explain, our high couselman for our ward gave a talk in church on Sunday. He talked about dating and marriage the WHOLE time. He was hilarious. He told the whole ward that he matches people up in the ward and usuallly they end up dating or getting married. So that night he came by our apartment to give something to Suzanne and then we all wanted him to give us our top 10 list of guys in the ward. He matched me up with Gordy Evans. And this is the boy who almost ate my fish. Perfect match, don't you think?

Moral of the story: join the navy

Married with ten children?!?!?!?!

That's me! The 1st counselor in my ward asked me if I would have another calling and be the FHE mom for our group. So, suddenly, I am married! And I have 10 kids!!! How will I put all of them through school?!

My address: UTA

Yes, you heard me right. I live on the Utah Transit Authority buses. I don't have a car, so I get to ride the buses EVERYWHERE! I work in Orem and Springville, so I spend at least 5 hours a week on a bus. It's not the most thrilling thing i've ever done, but there are some interesting experiences I have had. Take yesterday, for example. I was sitting out in the cold at the Mt. Timpanogas Transit Center (Where I get off one bus and wait for the next one to take me to rest of the way to work) and a lady just sits next to me and says "You don't look like the smoking type." Well, I don't smoke, so I I guess thats a good thing that I don't look like a smoker. She then proceeded to tell me that she smokes, but since she's sitting with me, she won't. Thanks! What a gem she is. She then tells me that she caught herself judging a man, even though she didn't know him. So we had a conversation about how most people tend to judge without really knowing a person. She told me she had already judged me. I am, apparently, the "mild-mannered LDS girl." Cool. I guess that's pretty much the truth.

After a little while of this, my bus came and she happened to be taking that one as well, so we sat together. I learned that she is divorced, has a kid (cutest boy EVER. She showed me a picture) and has brain damage. She found out that I'm a teacher and wanted to take piano lessons from me. I told her we only teach kids but if she had her son take them, then she would have to come anyways. So she wanted to come see the classroom where I taught and got off the bus at the same stop as me. I'll admit I was a little worried at first to be alone there with her, but she was so nice and friendly and left after getting some information.

So i'll most likely end up teaching her and her son next semester! How fun! Oh the people you meet on the wonderful UTA bus!

Our New Pets + seasonal decorations

So today me and Mary and Suzanne went to Walmart and we bought two goldfish. We named them Donnie and Marie (as in Osmond). They cost 24 cents each! What a steal! And they have a 90 day warranty. How sweet is that? Here are some fun pictures of us with the fish.

PS- if me eyes look puffy, its because I had just finished a fight with and onion. The onion won.

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So my fishy face isn't all that great, but I tried.


Hey look! There they are!


Lovely.


Bonding with Donnie and Marie.


These past few weeks we have made other additions as well to make our apartment more festive.


The spider's name is Aragog. It's Jill's



Isn't it so pretty??


So Suzanne and Lanae and I picked some red and various colored leaves from the beautiful fall trees outside and taped them to the wall. They were very pretty, but the next day they were dead.....so we took them down.

Let's Rebel!

Against snow. I hate it. There has been snow on the Utah mountains for a week now and its supposed to snow hardcore tomorrow in the valley! UGG!! I HATE THE SNOW!! I guess playing in it can be fun, but when you have to walk in it everywhere you go, its not very fun. It seems that no matter how many layers I wear during the winter, I'm still cold.


Despite the horrible weather that is coming my way, I've been doing good. On Sunday Lanae and I went to a Spanish baptism. We have to do thing like that for our Spanish class. It was really cool and I understood almost everything! Afterward, we went to the house of the people that were baptized and ate cake. There was this really funny Dominican man that loves to salsa dance and he was talking to me, but I didn't know how to respond. That's my problem. I can understand things, but I can't speak the language. It's kind of frustrating, but the experience was fun nonetheless.

On Saturday, it was really cold outside, so we all got in the hot tub. Then it got really hot so we decided to jump into the pool. To my surprise, the water was warmer than outside. So we all played football in the pool. It was so much fun! And I burned alot of calories, which is always good.

So in one of my classes that I teach, one of my students came up to me beforehand and said
"Miss Becky, I made you something."
It was a colorful paper with the words I LOVE PIANO CLASS written on it in bright, glittery stuff. It was the cutest thing ever! The girl who gave it to me is about 4 years old and is so sweet! It's those kinds of things that make my job worth going to everyday.
On the other hand, that very same day in a different class, a little boy stood up from his keyboard and just started PUKING!!!! It was so sudden, I barely had time to react! He just kept throwing up and he didn't make it to the garbage can, unfortunately. I almost started gagging right there too and I could tell some of the other moms in the room were too. The boy and his grandma left and I got Peter, the boy who works in the office, to clean it up so I could continue with my class. Needless to say, it was a very eventful day at work.

Oh! One more thing that happened....there was a centipede in out apartment!! Suz almost stepped on it and it went inside my shoe! We were all terrified!!!!! Well....at least me and Suz were. Lanae really didn't care and Jill was the brave one that finally squished it. Haha we all had a good laugh after that one.

Well... I have nothing more to say.

Peace out.

Busy Busy Busy

It's been way too long...life has been crazy this past month. I have since started teaching group piano lessons at Art City Music Academy. It is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I love it. The kids are really cute and its starting to get fun now that i've kind of found my rhythm in the classroom. I have learned lots and lots from this job. I have to talk to the kids' parents on an equal level, so I feel more comfortable with talking to people in general and older people especially. It was really hard for me at first because I'm only 18, but it has been really good for me. The only thing I don't like is my transportation. I ride the good ol' UTA buses!!! A trip one way to where I work is anywhere from 30 to 60 min. and I have to transfer buses at least once. NOt fun. BUT I'm a pro now!

Along with starting a really demanding job, I started school at BYU again. My schedule consists of Old Testament, Mission Prep, Aerobics, Spanish, and Microbiology. Its a pretty lax schedule. I like it!!

So me and most of my roommates have been so good lately. Every night we do about 30 push ups and 120 sit ups. My abs are pretty much rock-hard now!!! Also, we have a gym at Liberty (where i'm staying) so I go there 3 times a week. I love the feeling of being active. It's been really good. Also, I have been eating really good. I don't buy any junk food (one exception: swiss cake rolls. Just one pack and I vow not to do that again) and I make sure I eat fruits and veggies. It's amazing what being active and eating healthy(er) can do to you! I feel great!

So the weather here has been wonderful!!!! It's perfect all of the time....so far. I just go outside during the day and study in the grass and it is fantastic. I wish I could bottle it up so that when It starts snowing I can open my bottle of heaven and let it out! haha. Well that's pretty much my life these days. Peace out.

Oh...ps-- I got a calling. Guess what it is? WARD PIANIST for sacrament meeting....of course. I wonder if I will ever have a calling that does not require me to play the piano.

Games, games, games!

Mary tagged me to do this game so here it goes!!!

Rules:
Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers.

The Five
Ten years ago…
1. I was baptized
2. I was in 4th grade
3. I was 8
4. I lived in AZ
5. I was alive

Five things on today’s “to do” list
1. Put all my clothes away
2. Start packing
3. Watch some training DVDs
4. Transfer my music to my new computer
5. Go to bed!

Five snacks I enjoy
1. Dry roasted peanuts
2. peanut butter toast with sugar
3. Chips and dip
4. Anything chocolate
5. Popcorn

Five things I would do if I was a millionaire…
1. Pay for college
2. Buy a car
3. Pay for a mission
4. Give some to my family
5. Travel around the world

Five places I have lived…
1. Mesa, AZ
2. Bakersfield, CA
3. Bloomington, IL
4. Pennsylvania
5. Provo, UT

Five people I tag...
1. Heater Richardson
2. Caitlin Porter
3. Kristin Saunders
4. Kathy Hathcock
5. Lany Lou!

This past weekend

This past Friday was my brother Mike's wedding to Brenda Recinos. They got married in the Mesa Temple on 08/08/08! There were 32 weddings that day--wow! It was probably because of the the date. If it was any other time in August in AZ, I don't think that many people would want to get married. It was SO hot taking pictures after Mike and Brenda came out of the temple. I told my parents that I'm definitly not getting married in the summer.

Since i'm the only sibling that couldn't go in the temple, I got to watch all the kids. O how wonderful. I felt like a mother that morning. I had to get all 4 of my neiced and nephews ready to go and then I had to get myself ready. So I packed everyone in the HUGE suburban and then got in. Only after I was buckled and turned the car on did Taylor yell from the back seat "You forgot to buckle Anna's seat!!" So then I had to get out and buckle her up. I wonder how my sister does it every day!So when we got to the temple, there were absolutely no parking spots because of all the weddings that day so it took me 20 minutes to find a spot to park in.

The rest of the day went really good. We had lunch at a pizza place and then the reception was at my house. It was really fun to have all my family there.

After the reception, a bunch of kids my age were going to watch scary movies, so I went too. We watched Boogieman and White Noise. It wasn't a very good idea for me to go and watch them. I'm really jumpy and I get really scared, so everyone was making fun of me and trying to scare me even more. When I was ready to go home, I made someone walk me outside because I was terrified. It was almost 2 in the morning and I had to blast my music really loud so I wouldn't get too scared on the car ride home. haha. I'm such a wimp.

Well on Saturday morning my mom woke me up and said "Hey do you want to go to Ihop for breakfast?" I immediately jumped out of bed and got ready to go. We never go out for breakfast so it was a real treat. Well we realized just before we left that we only had my dad's tiny car and there were six of us who had to go- Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, me, Aunt Shirlene. Well my dad wanted to just stay home, but we all ganged up on him and told him we were going to squish. It was pretty uncomfortable because that backseat can only fit two small children comfortably and there were four adults back there, but it was fun nonetheless.

Later that day, I came home and only my grandpa, cousin, and aunt were there. I was wondering where my family was, so I was going up the stairs to ask my aunt and grandpa. I usually take these stairs at a run and I did so this time as well. I only got halfway through my question before I totally biffed it on the wooden stairs. The edge of the stairs caught my shin on one leg and just below my knee on the other leg. It hurt so bad that I had to sit on the floor for about five minutes holding my legs trying not to cry. I now have two HUGE bruises on legs that hurt really bad whenever something barely touches them. It's been a week and its still like that. I hate be so clutzy.

On Sunday I had to give a talk in church :( I have a huge fear of public speaking of any kind. I frantically wrote the talk that Sunday morning. Ironically enough, I had to talk on priorities. Haha. Apparently getting prepared for my talk wasn't high on my list.

That Sunday was also the farewell of my good friend Steve. He did a really good job, but it was kind of sad. He is my last guy friend left and now he's going to leave me too. Oh well. Its good that he is going on his mission.

Thus ended my eventful weekend.

Monsoons are the coolest

I have been really disappointed this summer by the lack of a really good monsoon. It has only rained hard twice and for one of those storms I was stuck in the airport for FIVE HOURS because of it. Needless to say I was quite perturbed. I was starting to wonder if I would ever see at least one really good monsoon before I go back to school. However, last night there was a pretty big storm and it rained so much! The lightning was pretty cool too.

When it started to rain, I was at Mary's house with a bunch of other friends watching Holes. When we heard the rain coming down outside, we all went silent, just listening. But after a few seconds there was a mad dash to the door! We all ran outside and played in the rain for a good 20 minutes. We were dancing and taking crazy pictures. It was a really fun night and I'm glad that I got to experience another storm before I go back to Utah.

Maui Burgers are Delicious

For FHE tonight we went to Island's Grill. It was delicious. They have the yummiest types of burgers you can find. AND the burgers are HUGE!!!! I had a Maui burger with bacon and guacamole and cheese. It was SO GOOD. The downside is that I am stuffed right now. I kinda feel a little sick, but it was worth it. I love food. It's the best.

So i'm pretty much a lawyer by now.

In the office where I work, there are two lawyers who are renting out space. Whenever they have somone come in to write a will or something like that, I get to act as a witness. Basically I stand in the room for one minute while the lawyer asks quesitons to the people and then I leave. Not a big deal, but I think its pretty cool. Then after they leave I have to initial and sign like 30 pages of legal documents. I'm a pro by now.

Not only that, but I also do lots and lots of scanning for the lawyers. By doing this, I get to handle years and years worth of legal documents. It's really cool to see how stuff is done and the type of paper work there is to do. I like it. *Plus the hours I spend scanning, I get double the money* Yay.

So at three in the morning today, I wake up to my dog barking SO much and SO loud. I got pretty scared because she only barks like that when strangers (to her) come over. So I was thinking "Oh no! There's a burglar in the house!" So I woke up my mom and we went downstairs together. My dog was in the kitchen, but then she ran outside really fast. It was so loud outside because it sounded like all of the dogs in the neighborhood were barking. They were all going Psycho Crazy!! I don't know why they were all barking; it was weird. It was kinda Twilight Zone-ish. If only it was all in black and white.

Well that was the craziness of last night. My mom and I tried to ask my dog Toby why she was barking in the middle of the night, but no luck. Too bad dogs can't talk.

I dont understand...

people with accents. Specifically, Asain ones. Last year I had a Chemistry class and my TA was Asian. I would go in for help, but I could not understand anything he said no matter how many times he repeated himself. Usually I would end up just asking someone else in the lab for help. It was very frustrating because I wasn't that good at Chemistry in the first place. I hate it.

Well today brought back memories of those good ol' days. I came into work and my internet wasn't working. I tried a few things, but nothing worked and nobody was in the office to help me. Well our business has a tech guy that can help but he works in the Salt Lake office. Goodie. So today I had to call him and guess what? He is Asian and he has a heavy Asian accent! So I had to sit there while he tried to tell me what to do to fix my internet. He kept saying all these words that mean nothing to me and I was SO confused. He got pretty frustrated because I didn't understand anything he was talking about and he even said he needed someone smarter on my end that knew about computers to talk to him. Too bad I was the only one here. After about 30 minutes on the phone with him, we got it fixed. I thought it never would end, but FINALLY it did. I'm glad he put up with me. And I'm glad its over.

These boots were made for walking...

I love the thrift store. Its basically the best. On Saturday I splurged at Goodwill. For me, splurging is anything over $5. Well, I bought these AMAZING boots along with some really nice slacks and a nice shirt for under $15! What a deal! Again...I love the thrift store.

UTAH!

Last Thursday I flew to Utah for my music teacher training. I had some pretty...interesting adventures. My flight was supposed to take off at 8:10pm form Phoenix, BUT there had to be a huge thunder storm at the last minute and we didn't take off until 12:30!! It was the most boring 5 hours of my life. I had no book to read, no ipod, nothing to distract me. I just sat there staring at the wall. About 11:00, however, a boy started talking to me. He was really nice and super attractive. Too bad he was 16. But we talked for the rest of the time in the airport and on the plane. It was nice to have someone to talk to at least.

After my plane landed at 3am I got to drive with my future boss (who I had never met before) for another hour to Provo. yay! I was SO happy that the first impression she got of me was me being super tired and way out of it.

Anyways around 4 a sleepwalking Sam let me into her apartment where I crashed until 8:30. Then I had to get ready, get on the bus and train for 9 hours!! Ouch. It was a long day. THat night wasn't anything that special. We just got some dinner and watched Nacho Libre...or everyone watched it and I slept on the couch.

The next day i had 8 more hours of wonderful training (did I mention that usually people trian for 6 weeks for this job? I only got two days!!). Aftertraining, I was supposed to meet up with my friend Natalie who works for the same place I do. She said she would be home around 8:30 and Sam had to go somewhere at 7:00, so Sam gave me a key.

While I waited, I decided to go for a walk around campus. As I was walking away from the apartment I remembered that I forgot the key in the apartment. I am so smart. I figured it wasn't that long until Natalie came, so I just kept walking....and walking....and walking....like the pioneers. I did this because Natalie never called and wouldn't answer. So I walked up and down the big stairs at BYU TWICE and then I just roamed around downtown Provo. It was actually pretty fun for the first hour. I got to see where I'm going to live in the Fall and other places.

At around 9:00 I realized that it was getting dark. Scary. So I started to walk back to Heritage (Sam lives here). It was a long walk back. I got there around 9:30 and waited....and waited....and waited. Did I mention I called everyone in Provo that I know (even someone i've only met like 3 times) about two times. I called Sam like 5 times, but no answer. NO ONE answered and I was all by myself in the dark. Sitting on a dark hill. Good tims.

Finally Natalie called and we played some sweet Mario Kart on the Wii and ate delicious brownies and then I went back to Sams. Thankfully she was there to let me in.

It was already almost midnight by this time so I thought that we would just go to bed, but then Sam got hyper and we decided to go visit some of her friends. We had a mini devotional outside of the apartments that was really neat. We just decided to read a conference talk and then discuss it. I loved it. I love Utah. I love BYU. I love how we could just sit there and discuss our beliefs out in the open and nobody thought we were weird or stupid.

So after this, We went home and Sam and I decided to sleep on the roof. There are no RA's or Hall Advisors in that building, so why not?Icalled Jason to see if it was a bad thing to do. He gave us the OK, so we figured we were pretty safe. By the way, Jason was the super-strict-no-slack-nazi-RA at Wyview last year. Anyways, we took both of our matresses up to the roof with our blankets and pillows (which was quite a feat) and slept on the roof under the stars. It was amazing. The weather was perfect for it.

Well the next day was my going home day....sad. I wanted to go to church with Sam, but I had to catch my plane instead. And guess what? I got to do a mini cramming training session on the way back to Phoenix with my boss. Man, I was totally too full of information by that time that I dont think I retained anything, but oh well.

So end my adventures in Provo..........for now.

Yummm

A few minutes ago, I was sitting at work and my friend Katie Standage came in with a girl and game me a free HUGE double fudge brownie sundae. They both work in th Marble Slab Creamery for my boss. Cool.

Sick?

This weekend for the Fourth of July I went to Taylor, AZ with Mary and Suzie and the Tutts. We drove up there on Friday afternoon. It was fun to just hang out and enjoy the nice weather. It rained some while we were there, so it was nice and cool. That night we went to Suzanne's 13-year-old cousin's birthday party. We ate dinner and cake at a park. It was pretty sweet. What was even more sweet was that there was a two-seater dinosaur rocker thing there. He was pretty cool. Suzie lovingly named him Chaunce. It suits him.

Other than the birthday party, there were no celebrations on the 4th. Weird. I don't know why the town of Taylor decided to celebrate it on the 5th, but they did. And boy do they know how to celebrate. They shoot off anvils. Yep, those big honkin' heavy metal things that look like this:

That whole ordeal started around 4 am. It was so loud. There was a band playing and people honking their horns and there was a fire truck thrown in the mix as well. It was actually kinda fun to be woken up that early and thinking "Hey, there are the anvils." We could have gone and watched them, but we were too lazy.

Later that morning I experienced something I never had before: fainting. I was in a lot of pain that morning when I woke up due to womanly issues, and so I went to the kitchen and asked Sis Tutt if she had any advil. Nope. The pain got worse and worse and I was about to cry. Sis Tutt then proceeded to the kitchen table where everyone was seated for breakfast and asked if anyone had any medicine. I was gripping the edge of the table at this point because I couldn't really stand. Then I blinked and half of my vision was gone. I blinked again and everything was black. Then I opened my eyes and I was on the floor.

Let me tell you, it was the most surreal thing I have ever experienced. I don't remember how I got on the floor, though everyone told me I hit my head on the counter and the tile floor as I went down. When I woke up, it felt like I was just waking up from sleeping. I expected to be in my bed, but instead I woke up with seven worried faces looking at me. I was really confused until the pain came back in full force. It was then that I wished I was still unconscious. So Bro and Sis Tutt helped me lay down on an air mattress and retrieved some pills from Suzie's uncle and aunt. Then everyone went to a patriotic program and I was left to sleep. Overall, it was not a fun experience, but I was able to joke about it later that day when I was feeling fine.

We left for home later that afternoon after lunch. It was a pretty fun trip. Too bad I missed all the patriotic stuff and celebrations. It's kinda ironic seeing that I went to celebrate the 4th of July. Oh well.

One more funny thing. At least I think its funny. So right before we headed back home, we stopped and Suzanne's aunt and uncle's house (the ones with the pills). We waited in the car, but everyone came out to say Bye. Suzie's cousin Preston came out with them (not the one with the birthday but his brother) and he stuck his head in the car, looked at me, and said, "Sick?" That was it. I was a little bit confused, but I responded with a "No, I'm alright now, thanks." Then he left. It was a little strange. I mean, he is an RM. Me must know how to talk to people seeing as thats all he did for 2 years straight. I found it pretty funny. He truly is a man of few words.

Anyway...thats my eventful trip to Taylor, AZ!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I. GOT. THE. JOB! I officially get to teach music classes starting the fall!! I am SOO excited right now! I can't contain it! I'm shaking a little bit and I want to scream! But I can't...i'm at work.

The best part? She is flying my up to Utah in a week to train! EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is probably a really annoying post with all the CAPS and !!! but I dont care! I'm am psyched!

I picked a good career.

In my spare time I like to plan. I budget my money. Plan my school schedule. Plan my future. I like that sort of stuff.

So today I was looking at how much money i'm going to make when I start my career as a dental hygienist, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The average wage was $71, 453. And I only need an Associates degree! Sweet! On the "Fast Growing Occupations in AZ" website, it said that this is the second highest paying career. It's second only to Pharmacists, who make about $88,000 a year. My brother, Mike, is going to be a pharmacist. I guess good career-pickin' runs in the fam.

Other things that make this career fantastic?
*Flexible hours
*Only have to work 1 day a month to keep license
*Get to wear scrubs (I'm way excited about this)
*I get to give people something to smile about
*Did I mention the great pay? Starting hygienists get an average of $50-$120 an hour.

I can't wait to start. Now all I gotta do is get into the program at UVU, finish up school, and take the tests. Whoop-dee-doo!

40 inches?!?!

Today my boss called me into one of the back offices to help him with something. So I went back there and what do I find? My boss got a new monitor for one of the girls that works here! Not just any monitor, though. It was at least 40"!! That's big. I was in that office yesterday and the monitor was sitting there next to the TWO nice 24 inchers already in place. I thought it was a TV waiting to be installed. Nope. Its a computer screen. Yeah it's nice and everything and I'm sure Jen really likes it....but....why? She already had two screens! Wasn't that enough? She even told me it really wasn't necessary. I don't understand my bosses sometimes. Here are some visuals:


A normal monitor.

What my co-worker had.


What she has now.

...

...I don't do much. I'm usually bored all day at work. I'm basically here to answer phones and do random things if my bosses need me, which isn't that often, and never takes very long. Don't get me wrong, I like having a job where they pay me to sit there and look pretty for the people who walk in the door and answer an occasional phone, but it gets really boring. I don't like to be bored. I don't like to not do much.

Perfect Plans Spoiled

Mary Vance, Breena Hadlock, and I decided that we would go hiking this past Saturday. We decided to go at 6 am. Wowzah! That's early, and I am no early morning person, so it was a big deal that I was going to wake myself up to go hiking. Don't get me wrong, I love hiking and I was way excited to go, but I wish that AZ wasn't so darn hot. That was we could go hiking later and not die of heat stroke.
Anyways, I wake up Saturday morning at 6 am to a text message from Breena saying "I'm here!!" Whoops. I slept in, of course. So I jumped out of bed and hurriedly got ready. By the time I was done, Mary was there too. So it was time to be off! Well I pretty much knew where we were going, but once we got out there, I couldn't seem to find the trails. (we were going to Superstition) So we stopped at a gas station to ask directions.
Well the people at the gas station were set on being as little help as they could. When we asked them where the trails were, they told us it was "too dangerous and hot this time of year" and that we could "get lost" and "die of dehydration." K, maybe I made that last one up. But, c'mon! The trails at Superstition are really big, and always have TONS of people on them. It is impossible to get lost on those trails. Also, it was 6:30 in the morning, so it wasn't too terribly hot and we were planning on being out of there by like 9 anyways. Plus, we had like 5 bottles of water, so we were pretty much set.
Well, I just needed to get that off my chest. I was pretty peeved that those people wouldn't tell us where to go. I was even more peeved that they treated us like 3 year olds that couldn't take care of themselves. Rant over.

Contemplative...

Last night I was talking to my friend about growing up and change and it really got me thinking about how I've grown and changed this past year. I feel like I am a different person than I was last summer after High School, or at least a better version of the person I was before.

BYU changed me. Usually I don't like change, but I wouldn't trade the experiences or people or realizations about myself that changed me for anything in the world. These are just some of the things I learned and the ways I feel i've changed:

* I developed a greater realization of who I am in relation to the Plan of Salvation and my testimony was strengthened on countless occasions. I can't even begin to explain everything wonderful and spiritual that occured. First of all, there is a different feel on campus. It's peaceful, beautiful, the spirit is there. You never encounter people swearing or smoking or dressed immodestly, it's great. Along with the general feel of BYU, there are always devotionals and firesides given by general authorities and other inspiring people to feed your spiritual side. It was in many of those firesides and devotionals that I would recieve answer to prayer or just realize something new about myself. Also, I was on my own. I didn't have my parents to be there for me whenever I was sad or having a trouble with something. This led me to turn more to my Heavenly Father for love and support, which he gave me. My faith grew by leaps and bounds every passing day as I began to REALLY realize my purpose here.

* I learned not to run on the snow or ice, even if I was late. If you do this, you WILL fall. I learned this first-hand and from watching Suzie do it.

* I learned that I am actually a clean freak. By the state of my room even now, nobody would have guessed it. Vicky helped me find this out. Vicky was my roommate this past year. She is very fun and smart and nice, but she is oh-so-messy. She left everything everywhere. After school, her books, purse, backpack, random papers, and everything else would be spread over the WHOLE couch. Annoying. And in the kitchen, you ask? She never washed her dishes. Maybe once every three weeks, but that was it. And after she cooked something she would never clean up anything. It was disgusting. I found myself scrubbing the counters every single day and sweeping and mopping almost as much. It never bugs me when i'm at home and its messy, but at my apartment it does. I don't understand it. About once a week i would get this incredible urge to clean everything. I couldn't help myself. I shared a room with Lanae, and when my stuff was everywhere, I could stand it! It didn't really matter if her side of the room was messy, but if everything of mine wasn't organized, it really bugged me. It got worse and worse as the year went on. I would even start to clean my neigbors kitchen! So this is how I became a clean freak. Now that i'm home, the clean freakiness is pretty much gone. I'm sure if my mom read this post she wouldn't beleive it.

* I learned how to survive on next to no money. Tuition, books, school supplies, food, rent, utilities, movies at the dollar theatre. I paid for it all for one year. Of course, my parents paid the rent for one month and the food for another month and I am eternally grateful for their help. But for everything else, it was all up to me. I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to make it, but I did. And I learned TONS in the process. I learned how to budget money. Every month I would go over how much money I had and how much would go to certain things. I really enjoyed doing this. I loved seeing the evidence of my hard work in the Cougareat in the form of a deposit in my back account. I also loved giving that money back to BYU for my rent. Something about being able to work for my own living made me happy. I have never appreciated a job so much in my life. Without it, I would have been even more broke than I was. I also learned that, if I was short on grocery money that month, I could live off of Hawaiian haystacks alone for over a week.

* I learned that plans don't always work out. For over two years now, i've had a plan. I was going to go to BYU for one year to get my prereqs out of the way, then transfer to UVU for their 2-year Dental Hygiene program. I would gradutate by the time I was 20, get a job as a dental hygienist, save up some money, and then go on a mission when I was 21. Boy was I wrong. No, UVU didn't like that idea and told me the soonest I could apply was 2009. Well, that gave me an extra year, which I did not want at the time. However, it has really been a blessing. It gives me another year at BYU, which I love. AND it gives me enough time to get the 60 credits I need to establish residency in Utah. That way when I go to UVU, I will be paying A LOT less.

* I have noticed that I hav become more open to meeting new people from various backgrounds and I am more open to new experiences.

I could go on and on, but I am rather tired, so I don't thing I will. Good Day.

Solitare

Can someone go crazy from playing solitare too much? So I play solitare a lot while i'm at work. I usually play for at least 2-3 hours a day. It's kind of mind-numbing and I've just been wondering lately: can i get dumber if I keep this up?
According to the apathetic, tired feeling I have after I have one of these solitare sessions, I am prone to believe I am getting dumber. Or losing my mind. So if I act that way, don't be surprised. It's just the solitare.

Random Adventuring

Last night I was rather bored, so (as usual) I called Suzie! Seems like we're both two peas in a pod this summmer- always bored because no one else is around anymore. Well, usually when we are bored we just sit around, trying to think of something to do and then just end up watching videos on YouTube. Yeah, I know. Pretty lame. BUT last night was a different story. We decided to.......

...go tandem biking! Sorry I don't have real pictures. I always forget to take pictures even when I have my camera with me. Anyways, we were way pumped to be doing something active for a change. Little did we know that it is darn hard to start going on one of those things. I've ridden one before, but I was in the back so it was a breeze! This time though, I took the front seat. I wobbled so bad and then I just started laughing so hard. I just couldn't do it! Laughing didn't help either.
Both Suzanne and I felt like idiots. There we were in the middle of the street at night with tons of cars passing by, and we couldn't even get started on the bike. I bet it was a pretty funny sight! Well anyways, Suzanne got in the front and was smart enough to actually get us up and going. Later on, I finally tried the front again and I got the hang of it. It was a pretty fun way to get our exercise in, though not as easy as we expected.

Sweet Job!

About a week ago, my friend Natalie called me up and asked me if I was looking for a job when I go back to Provo in the fall. Well of course I said "YES" without hesitation. She then continued to explain that her boss was hiring people to teach music classes to kids. Then, once I told her I was interested, she explained that her boss would call me and everything. Talk about awesome!
This job is perfect for me. I would be doing what I love (music) AND be working with kids! I don't know if I will get the job, but I REALLY hope so. And if I do, it's all thanks to Natalie!
Natalie is one of the sweetest people I know. She always thinks about other people and has helped me so much. She was especially helpful when I first came to BYU; she helped me get my books, find my classes and a lot of other things too. I love her so much! Thanks for being such a great friend!

Happy Thoughts

I have been feeling really down latley, so I decided to write down 100 things that make me happy. My roomies and I did something like this at college this past year. We wrote down a bunch of random and silly things and stuck it on the fridge. We didn't do nearly this much so this might take me awhile, but hey, I have alot of downtime at work (which is where I am now) so why not do it?
So, in no particular order, here it goes:

1. My nephew Brigham
2. Taking random, funny pictures with friends.
3. Looking at those pictures and then laughing at myself.
4. Monsoon season!!!
5. The smell of rain
6. LIGHT!
7. Watching competion video of LIGHT
8. Dressing up weird
9. Making music videos
10. The quote wall
11. Getting letters in the mail
12. Dance parties
13. Doing animal impressions
14. road trip to California
15. exercising
16. planning
17. organizing
18. getting paid
19. playing the piano
20. singing in the car like I'm a super star
21. Dancing in the car like no one is watching
22. getting an A in a class after a hard semester's work
23. getting an A in a class after not trying that hard
24. knowing all of the scientific names of everything in and on my body
25. cadavers
26. going from a cold room to outside in the sun
27. walking into an air conditioned room after spending hours in the blazing heat
28. having deep conversations late into the night
29. staying up so late that you act drunk
30. playing soccer in the family room with my brother
31. learning something new
32. making someone else laugh
33. camping
34. swimming
35. Arizona sunsets
36. Amusement parks
37. Family reunions
38. finishing a big project
39. reading for hours on end with no interruptions
40. a good book
41. living on my own
42. being spontaneous
43. hiking
44. brownies and milk
45. family
46. A good movie that you can watch over and over and never get bored of
47. clicking pens
48. brushing my teeth
49. flossing my teeth
50. a clean room/house/kitchen
51. Lanae Carmichael
52. My neices: Taylor
53. Emily
54. and Anna
55. Getting an awesome new sister-in-law
56. Teaching music classes
57. an easy semester at BYU
58. cold water (to drink)
59. taking a bath
60. taking a bubble bath
61. not having to rush to be ready in the morning
62. Maui burger
63. 46
64. Wii
65. Sunsets
66. smiling
67. buying books
68. stretching
69. "Word, Nigel"
70.


Ok...I got a little farther! Only 38 more to go!

SYTYCD

Alright, my new favorite tv show is So You Think You Can Dance! It's basically the most amazing thing since spray cheese. There are 10 girls and 10 guys and each week, the dancers pair up and choose a style of dance out of a hat! The choreography of the dances that the couples do are all super cool! They have some of the best choreographers teaching them. I think my favorite guy dancer is Mark. He's an awesome dancer and he is hilarious! If you all wanna share in the fun, its on Wed. at 7 and Thurs. at 8!

And I say.....HEY! What a wonderful kind of day...

So it seems that everyone has been getting a blog lately, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon! It's a great way to record the things that happen in my life. Plus, I don't really do much at work except surf the net, so it will be great to actually have something to do.