BYU Continuing Education

The place where I work goes through random spurts of being crazy busy, where we can't even keep on top of all the work we have, to longs periods of having absolutely nothing to do. As you can probably guess, we're in a slow stage and probably will be for most of the summer. However, I'm going to be working full-time here the entire summer and don't know if I can handle sitting in front of a computer with nothing to do for 8 hours. Any suggestions on how to make work a little more interesting!?

American Idol

I admit- I am one of those crazy people who follow American Idol as if my own future career depended on it. I rarely watch tv so when I make time for a show every week, you know it is important to me. This season it seems as if there are SO many good contestants that could do very well, instead of just one that should win hands down. Last night was Andrew Lloyd Webber night. I was curious to see how that would work since I grew up in a family who loved musicals. However, I was very happy to see that almost everyone did amazing!!! (Except Brooke and Jason, who should BOTH be kicked off this week. I wouldn't be sorry to see either of them go...) In fact, David Archuleta did a new version of Think of Me from Phantom of the Opera. I was scared to see how it would go because that is one of my favorite musicals! He did so great and it sounded like a song that could be on the radio right now. I ALWAYS love David Cook and think that he should win the whole thing because he is fantastic. I know I'm pretty pathetic for getting so into a tv show, but I gotta have something to give me a break from work and school!

Stolen Tag

Even though Holly didn't actually tag me in her last post, I decided to use it anyway and let you all know some fun facts about me:

10 years ago:

I was only 10, going on 11!! Wow that is so young. I'm sure I was partying it up in elementary school.... and I was 10 when I started soccer and that pretty much changed my whole life. I miss that beautiful game!

5 years ago:

I was just getting my driver's license. It's so new and exciting that you always want to drive everywhere. Now, I will do anything to not have to drive! I was also finishing up my sophomore year of high school, which was the best grade for me. I always do really well my first year in a new school and then I think I just get sick of it so it all goes downhill from that first exciting year! I just handle change really well.

5 months ago:

I was getting engaged!! We were official on December 16th, but we had decided long before then that we wanted to get married. It has been a long five months since... but the best of my life!

5 things on my "to do" list:

1. Get a marriage license

2. Buy a bed

3. Fix the alignment, brakes, and tires on my car

4. Get through finals!

5. Finalize all plans for the wedding day and wait until the best day of my life in 3 weeks!

5 snacks I enjoy:

1. GRANOLA BARS- I can't remember the last day I went through a day without one (or two or three...)

2. Fruit Snacks

3. Cheez-its

4. Wheatables

5. Original Baked Lays

5 things I would do if I was a billionaire:

1. I'm not gonna lie, I am the biggest saver in the world. I would put all of it into a savings account! Ha ha

2. Give it to a worthy cause (mostly to the Church or Idol Gives Back! Ha ha ha)

3. Buy a house

4. Go on lots of sweet trips. Especially to Australia!

5. Learn how to fly a plane and buy my own

5 bad habits:

1. Whenever I'm sitting, I tend to shake my leg up and down. I LOVE it, but I'm sure it annoys everyone else

2. Talking in my sleep. And even worse, I'm told I laugh in my sleep a lot. Creepy!

3. Chewing on my pen cap whenever I'm bored in class
4. Not flossing as much as I should
5. Eating way past the "I'm so full I'm going to throw up" phase. Food is just so good!

5 places I've lived

1. Taylorsville
2. Heritage Halls (dorms of BYU)
3. Glenwood
4. Spain for 8 weeks total
5. Soon to be the most amazing basement apt ever!

5 jobs I've had

1. Babysitting kids in the neighborhood
2. Subway sandwich artist
3. Office secretary for the Bilbao, Spain Mission President :)
4. Registrar for BYU Continuing Education
5. Pretty sure I have the unofficial title of apartment cleaner.... I have only had two real jobs so I had to stretch a little bit

5 things people don't know about me

1. My first one is almost exactly like Holly's- I love public speaking, but I hate being the center of attention elsewhere so I'm pretty socially awkward.
2. My favorite classes at BYU have been Human Development and Humanities, which are two of the classes I dreaded taking the most
3. I love doing the dishes, it is the best chore around the house. When I'm stressed or upset, cleaning helps me straighten things out.
4. I like moving apartments. Even though it's a pain to box everything up, it is so nice to be in a new place and be able to organize a new home. Moving is a good feeling, it makes me feel very accomplished when it's all over
5. I swore I would never go tanning, but I went for the first time today. However, for me it's not just a vain ambition- I am trying to get my skin somewhat tan so that I don't fry in Hawaii on my honeymoon. That would be so miserable!

Making some money

I have never had good luck with textbook sell-back. Usually I spend less than all my friends at the beginning of the semester, but then I come away with less than $40 at the end (And yes, $40 is the most I've ever received back!) However, this semester I had to spend a little more and had two books leftover from last semester that I couldn't sell back at the time. Since I have no more finals to study for from my textbooks, I could sell ALL of them back on the first day of sell-backs. Which means that this morning I walked away with $245!!!!! I'm pretty sure that's more than I even spent on books this semester.... what could be a better start to my morning?!?

1st Bridal Shower

My roommates threw me a big bridal shower/ bday bash yesterday which was the 1st bridal shower I've had. Even though it was kinda last minute and not many people could come, we had a blast. There were the typical practical gifts, slightly risque gifts, and those few that you will never use or like but are funny anyway, like the enormous granny panties my roommates got me that could probably fit over my entire body. First we ate delicious food and then opened all my wonderful presents. Next, they quizzed me on my Richard knowledge. Every time I missed a question, I would have to put 2 sticks of gum in my mouth. Lucky for me, I got almost all of the answers right but it frustrated my roomies so on the last question, I was informed I would be eating 5 pieces of gum if I got it wrong. Then I was asked what Richard's baseball glove size is. I don't even know how gloves are measured!!! All in all, I ended up having 9 pieces of gum in my mouth but it was very unfair that I had that many!!! They also wrote wedding advice on a T-shirt to give to me, hit a pinata for my Cinco de May bday, made me do martinelli shots (since I'll be turning 21), and made me a wedding dress out of toliet paper. I wore a pink crown the whole time (my roomies keep trying to convince me I look good in pink even though I'll never wear it) and a sash that says Ms. Off the Market. It was a very fun shower!

I am my mother's daughter

As much as I don't like to admit it, I am pretty OCD about certain things. I never noticed how bad I was until I moved in with 5 other girls that I drive nuts by my weird habits. For example:

1- I am obsessed about a clean pillow. I hate other people touching it, laying on it, or even taking it other places other than at the head of my bed. I have an anxiety attack every time someone's foot touches my pillow and I have 3 different pillow cases that I rotate through in about a 2 week period because I always think my pillow is dirty

2- Once I move in to a place and get the kitchen set up, I don't like to move things around within the cupboards. One they are there, that is where they always go. Even when the bowls are on the other side of the cupboard, I have to slide them over to make them go where they belong. It's weird, I know

3- I have to have the kitchen area clean before I go to bed. Even if my bedroom is a complete mess, it's only the kitchen that really bothers me. I will stay up late to get the dishes done, wipe off the counters, and even take out the trash if that is what it takes

4- All the movies have to be straight in the entertainment center. If any of them are crooked or if a tall Disney cover is stuck in the middle of two normal-sized DVDs, I have to get up to fix it. I also like to have them alphabetized, but I won't freak out quite as much if they're not.

5- My email inboxes always have be cleaned out. I either delete thing immediately after responding to them or I sort them into their own little folders. I hate opening my email to see 100s of old emails that I will probably never look at again.

6- And finally, the clothes in my closet are all arranged according to color and size (meaning all the long-sleeve shirts are separate from the short-sleeve ones which are separate from my dresses, etc.) It makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier!

These are just a few examples of how crazy I am, but I am sure there are many others. No one will ever doubt whose daughter I am!!! :)

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Those of you who don't know me should know that I hate making decisions. I am probably the most indecisive person you'll ever meet. It's not that I am incapable of doing it, I just don't like to because I want the BEST decision that makes EVERYONE happy, but that's hard to do all the time. Planning a wedding has been interesting since I've had to make the final say on everything! Luckily, I have Richard who has helped me with everything and has been more involved than most guys probably are. Lately, the only big decision we've been working on has been finding a place to live. The apt I described below truly was an incredible miracle. However, a few days later we were told that we could move into another place where we had been on the waiting list. Now there was the big decision- try to sell our contract for the apt we would only be in for the summer and move into a place that was cheaper and more permanent or stick with what we had and try to find a good deal for the fall. However, I felt as if Heavenly Father really blessed me with a clear decision on this one. Although we would save more money at the other place, I really felt as if we should move to the apt where we had already signed the contract and that we would be blessed with another good apt in the fall. It's a very good thing I have someone up above who knows how everything should work out and will let me know what I am supposed to do because otherwise I would probably never make a single decision my entire life!!!

Hidden Blessings

Have you ever had a week (or two or three) where it feels as if everything you do is wrong and nothing happens the way it should, no matter how hard you try? That could describe my life pretty well the past two weeks. Although I've been super stressed all semester, it seems as if the world has decided to crash down on me lately, just to see how much I can handle. I've never cried so hard, prayed so long, or relied on someone so much (good thing Richard can be strong for me!) to get me through those hard times. However, even through the bad times, it's amazing to see how Heavenly Father adds extra blessings as well to balance it out. So I've taken inspiration from Kristi's blog and decided to talk about blessings that have been given to me instead of doing more complaining, which is something I am usually much better at :)

1- I have the most amazing fiance in the whole world who is willing to do anything for me and has helped me more than anyone ever has. He really is the only thing that has gotten me through these last 5 months (although I have had help from a lot of others too, so thanks!)

2- I have a wonderful family who have helped me with every aspect of my wedding plans (on top of the usual love and support they give me) since my mom isn't here to guide me through it

3- Speaking of, my mom gets to come home in LESS THAN A MONTH for my birthday, endowment, wedding, and Mother's Day. What an excellent time for her to come home, and I can't wait!

4- I work with the most positive, righteous person I've ever met and she's a great influence on me. She really does inspire me to be better, simply through the example she is in the three hours we are here every day. Also, I just found out that we get to work together full-time the entire summer!

5- Even though I have had a lot of not-so-fun things happen lately, they have been spaced out enough so that I could deal with them. My two huge term projects were due a week apart so that I had adequate time to work on both of them (Especially after losing the first one to do a computer problem!). Also, Sunday was a horrible day for me and I was about ready to break. However, Monday was a MUCH better day and because of this, when my roommates presented me with a lot of complaints they had about my behavior, I was able to deal with them better. If they would have said anything to me on Sunday, I would have snapped! Timing is everything! (This is definitely something Richard had to point out to me as well. That was definitely not something I was thinking about after it happened!!! Thanks for helping me be more positive!)

6- Even though a long engagement was hard, it gave us enough time to spread the plans out and get things done as we could. We have never been running around, trying to get things scheduled at the last minute. Because of this, plans were fun and not as stressful as they could have been

7- I have nearly killed myself with school this semester. However, because of the hard work (and a lot of help from up above!), I am getting away with very good grades in all of my classes again. I've been very blessed to have always done well in school

8- We have another great offer for a different apartment complex, which is at an even better price than we could've hoped for. We have been very well taken care of in our planning for the future

9- Spring is nearly here! I love the warmth and the sunshine and having the cold weather leave always puts me in a better mood. Doing homework outside with the sun shining down always makes it seem much more bearable

10- And finally (even though there are MANY more I could talk about), I am getting married in exactly a month and two days. I couldn't ask for a better man to be with who makes me want to try harder, change, and become better all around. I have been so blessed by having someone who is patient enough to deal with me, who loves me enough to make everything worth it, who is righteous and worthy to be a great husband and father, and who I love more than anything in the world!!!

Thank you to everyone who helps me out every day. I know that I have been so blessed by my loving Heavenly Father who is ALWAYS watching over me!

Apartment Miracle

Ever since we've been engaged, Richard and I have been trying to find a place to live for the summer. We started in Jan, but that was way too early since nobody had their housing posted yet. Apparently no one else starts looking for housing that early- so much for being prepared!!! Since then, we have called countless apt complexes only to be told that we would be put on the waiting list. How many waiting lists does one need to be put on before you can't wait anymore?! Last Saturday night, while I was busy trying to get a big project done, Richard decided to log on and look at the housing guide online. He saw a listing for a basement apt that had just been posted. We called right away and the landlord told us to come over in 30 mins to check out the apt. They are only charging $500, plus utilities, and I was expecting a tiny apt that I could manage to live in for 4 months. However, the apt was HUGE, especially the kitchen. We also have our own washer and dryer, 2 bedrooms, and a big backyard which is perfect for the summer. We immediately called back and told the landlord that we were interested and he made our day by telling us that it was ours. (Which was also very lucky because someone else wanted it and called about 30 mins after we did) This was such a huge answer to our prayers because we have been so stressed with school and haven't had as much time to look as we would have liked. Also, we were on so many waiting lists that I didn't know how long we should wait before just signing up for the first crappy apt we came across, just so we wouldn't be living on the street. It was such a miracle that Richard just "happened" to look online just after it had been posted and that the landlord just "happened" to be home so we could look at it and that we just "happened" to call before the other couple did. We have definitely been taken care of!