23 goals/adventures/things before 24

Well, here it is, this year's list of 23 things to do before I turn 24:
1. Scrapbook my London experience
2. Graduate from BYU
3. Complete an internship
4. Get a full time job
5. Go to Washington D.C.
6. Visit somewhere I've never been
7. Get a credit card
8. Go to the temple at least once each month
9. Do something that scares me
10. Move out of my parent's house
11. Finish my quilt (or at least start it)
12. Work on Family History
13. Blog once a week
14. Visit Alyson and Kenny in Florida
15. Visit Nick and Amanda in Virginia
16. Visit a national park
17. Take the GRE
18. Fall in love with a person, place, or hobby
19. Become a runner
20. Be better at staying in touch with friends
21. Accomplish all 12 of my new year's resolutions
22. Forgive
23. Visit campus with my parents and have them tell me stories from when they were in college (this counts as family history, right?)

Goals Goals Goals

Instead of making year-long goals I decided to do a goal each month.  I stole this idea from the amazing Anna who did the same thing last year.  I just love the idea of doing something for 30 days as opposed to 365 days.  January's goal was to keep my eyes closed during prayers.  All prayers, personal or public.  It was a little hard because I had gotten so out of the habit, but it was worth it.  It's something that I'm going to continue to work on.

February's goal relates to school.  My goal is to spend 1 hour outside of class at least three days a week on campus studying.  This has already proved to be more difficult that January's goal.  I love my naps, and with my crazy schedule with school this semester it's going to be rough, but I need it.  Wish me luck!

the best weekend ever

This week has been rough, I've had to take each day hour by hour to get through, but I know it's because it's getting me ready for an AMAZING weekend.  I am so excited for general conference and the opportunity to listen to the prophet of God on the Earth today. Today I came across the video below and it reminded me of the gratitude I have for the knowledge that I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father.   

excuses

A list of lame and not so lame reasons for not blogging:

1. I had my leg sliced open by a doctor 3 weeks ago yesterday.  For over a year I have been experiencing some pretty intense Achilles Tendon pain, and after visiting multiple physical therapists and doctors without any improvement, I took the plunge and had a gastrocnemius recession surgery.  I would post a link or a video about what it is, but I can't because I tried and I felt sick.  You want to tell me about your surgery or watch open heart surgery together, I'm all for it, but you want me to research what surgery I had or watch a video of someone getting their leg sliced open, I'm out.

2. Because of said surgery I took all of my finals in two days... before they were even open.  On the last day of class I took three finals and on the first reading day I took two.  Don't worry, I'm alive, so I obviously survived.  I'm not gonna lie though, it was rough.  I am proud to report, however, I cried only once in public. The following are pictures of partying in the library with the beautiful Jill.

You know I need two computers to do my homework.

Studying is never complete without snacks and music.

Jill the Hottie.

1.5 hours BEFORE we left.

3. I got a new job!!  I am the letter of recommendation specialist for BYU's preprofessional advisement center.  If you are applying to medical/dental/podiatry school and you have letters of recommendation sent to our office, you know I'll be reading them, processing them, and then sending them to wherever you would like across the country or world.

4. Spring term has begun.  I am taking Statistics and Public Speaking.

5. The weather is beautiful outside.

22 things before I'm 23

My birthday is coming up at the end of the week, and I want to make a list of 22 things to do before I'm 23. I want all of my closest friends and family members input though, which means those people who read my blog, because, obviously, you are the ones who care about me the most.  Please, any suggestions would be welcome. A couple of things I have already thought of in the past three minutes since I decided I want to do this:
1. Blog more(once a week maybe?)
2. Read the entire Book of Mormon
3. Be able to a. swim a mile or b. run a 10k without stopping
4. No do any homework on Sundays

(Picture from my birthday last year.  Read about it here)

gag me

Okay, I know I said I was going to try to share some of my favorite things about BYU, well today I experienced something I had only ever heard of- a couple in class cuddling.  CUDDLING.  IN CLASS.  A dedicated building.  The lecture wasn't even that good.  I could be more open minded about something such as this occurring in prep for eternal marriage or something, but we were learning about Family Tree and it's ancestors (new.familysearch, familysearch, PAF).  NOT ROMANTIC.

Now for something I like about BYU.  When I went to sign up for my spring and summer term classes, there were SO MANY spots open!  Yay!

watch out-I've been thinking

It's one of those crazy things about life that as soon as you find out you can't do something it automatically becomes the thing you want to do more than anything else.  Some examples if you're not sure you have ever actually experienced it:

Scenario 1: You just decided to go on a diet that does not include any sweets.  The next afternoon the only thing you can think about is that chocolate frosted donut and those peanut M&Ms in the cupboard.

Scenario 2: You HATE shaving your legs, but then your razor breaks right as you finally go to shave for the first time in two months and it's a super crazy week and you don't have time to go buy a new one.  For those two months, you didn't mind your hairy legs, but now, all you can think about is that think sweater appearing on your gams and you can't stand it, the only thing you want to do is shave and you want to do it RIGHT NOW.

Okay, so maybe those weren't the best examples, but I have been experiencing this sort of thing recently, not with donuts or shaving my legs necessarily, but it just got me thinking about the whole issue and why our minds work this way.

another beginning

In so many ways, I feel like I am getting a new, fresh start at life right now.  It's a new year, a new semester, a new climate(why hello, Siberia), new clothes(yay for Christmas! thanks mom and dad!) and a new diet(not that kind of diet).  On the other hand, however, everything seems the same, same apartment, same school, same job, and same stresses.  As school began last week, I couldn't help but remember what and where I was last Winter Semester.

Studying in London was one of the biggest decisions I've ever made in my life and I will never be the same person.  I learned so much while in Europe, but not necessarily in the classroom or the museums, but about me.  I was forced to decide who I am.  One of the last days in London, I promised myself a couple of things: 1. I would have no regrets.  I would not regret going and I would not regret doing/not doing anything.
2. I would move on and continue living.  I went to London and loved it, but I would not spend time living in the past.  I am so happy I made these promises.  Over the past few days, I have decided that I want to make these promises to myself about every day.  I want to continue to learn about who I am and grow into the person I want to be, but I can't do that if I have regrets or live in the past.

Also, you all probably thought I had forgotten about informing you of things that I like about BYU, but I have not.  The following are things that I like about BYU:
1. I like that I go to the same school as my brother and sister-in-law.  I am so happy that I get to see Nick and Amanda on campus, especially this year since they are moving this summer.
2. I am thankful that we can pray at the beginning of class.  Although prayers don't begin every class, it is still such a unique opportunity.
3. I love the clock tower that chimes each hour and lets me know how late I am for work.
4. I love that campus helps me stay in shape.  Okay, so this is a love/hate relationship, but I love that campus is big. (I can avoid people)
5. I love that CES Firesides are usually broadcast from the Marriott Center.  As well as Regional Conference.  Sunday was especially fun because President Uchtdorf talked to us for just a minute before the broadcast.  Just. to. us.

Last but not least, I am being totally serious when I say you HAVE to read this blog.  I have linked to it before, and those who followed my command thanked me later because it is the funniest blog I have ever read.

blogging

Here's the thing, every time I log into blogger I am so disappointed that not enough people have blogged recently(like in the past 24 hours since I last checked) and the disappointment is followed quickly by embarrassment that I am the worst of almost anyone I follow.  I guess I just like stalking other people more than sharing the intimate details of my life.  Speaking of intimate details though, I am about to go take my third of three tests this week.  Wish me luck.

(what my test is about)

P.S. If you ever need to take BIO 100 at BYU, talk to me first and I will steer you clear of my professor, or at least attempt to scare you away with my experience.

P.P.S. This is the funniest blog I have ever read, and it literally gets me through each day at work.

zombie time

I registered for classes for next semester last night this morning at 12AM-12:13AM.  I went to sleep then  woke up thinking it would take literally 2 minutes to quickly add my classes.  Dumb BYU servers went SO SLOW.  I literally feel like a zombie today-here physically, but still asleep mentally.

On a separate note, my foot has been hurting REAL BAD the past few days.  I'm not even kidding or over exaggerating when I say that it hurts worse than when I had a fracture in my other foot-Probably because it's either a stress fracture or tendonitis.  So today whilst everyone else was wearing cute wintery boots, I was wearing my ugly medical boot limping across campus.  Please don't get too jealous.