Goodbyes

Goodbyes. I hate them. In a scale of 1 to 10 on how much I hate them, I hate them. This years were especially hard. I go Snow College, which is a Jr. College aka only 2 years of school. MEANING that I'm never going to see a lot of my friends from there, like ever. People are graduating and going on missions, and by the time they come back (if they ever do) I'm gone already to my own college. It's the worst. But what I think are even worse than goodbyes, is not having the opportunity to say goodbye--and even worse than that, not having the courage to say goodbye.

Goodbyes can be kind of an awkward thing if you think about it. What if you say goodbye to someone who didn't really care enough about you to want to say goodbye? What if you say a goodbye forever and then run into the person a couple more times before you leave, then you're both kinda like "uhhhh" because you don't want to do the whole goodbye thing again, but then you didn't really end up saying goodbye because you kept seeing each other. These are the reasons why I usually end up not saying goodbye to someone and then regretting it later.

Probably the weirdest things about goodbyes is that they don't seem like goodbyes at the time; like it doesn't ever really sink in that you're not going to see each other for a long time (maybe ever). I think if I had truly realized that at the time of me leaving I would have said more goodbyes and they would have been more heartfelt. I would have let everyone who was important to me know exactly how much I appreciated them. I would have told the people who took the time to talk to me and show friendship that I appreciated the way that they treated me. No one would walk away with me showing my gratitude for who they are and what they did for me.

In any case, I didn't. I am now regretting that. The thing about goodbyes is that they happen all the time--and who knows; maybe I'll learn how to give the perfect goodbye, hopefully before it's too late.

Recap

So school is over!! Goodness, it seems like time moves a lot faster when you're in college... so I think I'll do a quick catch up on what's happened since last time.

In March I went to The Festival of Colors, it's in Spanish Fork... or maybe American Fork... in any case, it was a fork. There's an Indian temple there (like not Native Americans, legit Indians), and they have this festival to celebrate spring every year. So I went with Megan (my lovely older sister), Bryant (Megan's fiancé!), and Jake (my boyfriend). It was a lot of fun. The best way for me to describe this is as a glorified chalk fight. You buy little packets of 'chalk'--turns out it's really just cornstarch that's a different color and you throw it at people at a certain time to celebrate spring.

*Before and after pictures from the Festival of Colors. L to R: Jake (bf), ME!, Bryant (Megan's fiance), Megan (my sister!).*

I really liked it because first off the temple thing, I had no clue there was something like that in Utah. It's really beautiful and I think it would be fun to go look at it sometime for fun. They had a fountain and peacocks and it was just a cool place. The chalk stuff smelled like incense, it was a good smell and when everyone threw the chalk at once, there were so many people and so much chalk that it actually blotted out the sun for awhile and you could only see like 4 feet around you. It was crazy!! We got pretty chalky and it was loads of fun, I think I'll definitely go again next year!

The next cool thing that happened was I went to a masquerade. So this summer I bought this freaking awesome mask from the Shakespearean Festival and I've NEVER had an opportunity to wear it without raising eyebrows. So finally I got my chance to shine.

*I got so many compliments and it was definitely one of the coolest--if not THE coolest, mask there!! *

<---- ake="" and="" attractive="" dance="" em="" going="" me="" re="" the="" to="" we="">

*Jake got a mask painted on later at the dance and this is what he ended up looking after he tried (unsuccessfully) to wash it off. * ------>

The dance wasn't that cool outside of the stuff they had there. I really didn't like the DJ much so we ended up spending the majority of the dance standing in a line for a carriage ride, I'd never been on a carriage ride before and it was something that was on my goal list. (I have a goal list btw) So I really wanted a ride, so we waited around forever. We were way lucky, we were the last group that they let ride :) I was really happy!! And it was everything I was hoping it was, except there wasn't romantic music playing, and there weren't pretty lights.

So that’s basically the only cool things out of school that happened, in school I was granted a theatre scholarship for next year, which is super awesome! I love theatre and it makes me quite happy, also I was getting sick and tired of band and I felt super bad because I wasn’t putting in as much time into practicing as I should have and I really didn’t like playing anymore so my heart just wasn’t in it. But the idea of getting paid to audition for the school plays and take theatre classes just makes me super happy!!

Also in relation to that I auditioned for, and made a one act play at Snow. It was called “While Shakespeare Slept” and it was basically awesome. Essentially Shakespeare’s decided to quit theatre and all of his characters come to him in a dream and talk him into writing plays. It’s a comedy and it’s especially funny if you know Shakespeare because there’s a lot of Shakespeare-inside jokes. I got to play the part of Rosalind, which I really liked because she’s one of my favorite Shakespearean girls AND I got to dress up like a Newsie essentially, which is always favorite. That finished like last week and was super fun, I really liked working with the people I did and performing for an actual audience again. It was a nice warm up for hopefully next year’s season. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The next super awesome thing that happened to me was I auditioned for Snow College’s Ballroom Dance team… AND I MADE IT!!! I’m way excited for this. I was a classical ballerina for about 10 years and I always thought it would be way fun to learn how to Ballroom dance. Well this semester I took Latin Social I and I picked up on everything like super fast, so I decided to audition. I’m way excited, I’ve missed dancing a lot and this will be a really fun opportunity for me to dance, meet new people, try choreographing (all the dances are choreographed by the members), and travel!!

Between theatre and ballroom dancing, I can’t wait for next year to start!!

Well that’s basically all the cool things that have happened. So far I’m feeling really good about my grades. If everything goes according to plan I’ll be keeping my academic scholarship for next year, and if everything goes AMAZING, I could get the first 4.0 of my life!! Right now I’ve done most of my finals, and turned in all my papers, so all that’s left is for me to give a group speech tonight and pack up and clean and move away. It’s kind of crazy to think that this is my last week, because I feel like it should feel more monumental, but it really just feels like a normal week except I’m out of good food and don’t want to go restock.

Well… I’m thinking that’s about it for now, I’m going to have a lot more time to write on this thing now that school’s over, so expect to see more posts in the future.

P.S. Is anyone else super mad about the weather?! (For those of you not living near me it snowed hard core last night.) Jake put it perfectly when he said “It’s almost May, weather, grow up!”

Spring Fever!!

Is it just me or is everyone and their dog getting married?! It's insane!! I know a large number of people who are engaged or in great danger of becoming so very soon. It's almost like the latest fad of the season; it's a phenomenon that's sweeping my college!! People are saying that the marriage rates at Snow are nearing the percentage at BYU, a frightening thought! Just kidding, that's basically impossible. ;)

This engagement craze keeps bringing one image to my brain time and time again: Bambi. You know in Bambi when all the friends are walking along together and suddenly one by one they become twitterpatted and pair off with their girl counterparts? Well I feel as though it is definitely twitterpation season!! And I find myself in Bambi's shoes (7&1/2 in woman's) where he watches all his friends hook up and just shakes his head and continues onward, to later fall into the same trap by mistake. (I'm still safe, no one read into that weird!)



I've thought about this plague and I keep thinking to myself what can possibly be the cause of it? Do we still have some animal instinct in us to breed in the spring to better ensure our offspring's survival? If so, then in modern times do we find the other species more attractive come the approach of spring? Is it because the way the school year falls? One semester has already past where one can date and find their one and only, so spring marks the end of school and less stress which is a more logical time to marry. Maybe it's a chain reaction where one person gets engaged and everyone else takes note and starts to play with the idea within their own life causing a chain of engagements? Maybe it's a combination of many things?



In any case it's happening and I'm pretty shocked. I've thought about why I'm so concerned about this whole thing and I think that maybe it's not happening more this year than any other, maybe the only change is that this year I'm old enough to get married myself, so I'm more exposed to the situation. Hmmm... probably. That's a scary thought, but I'm safe...for now!


P.S. Congratulations on everyone who's engaged!! Megan, Bryant, Jordan, Jenika, Weipan, Erin, Miss. Stevens, Victoria, kid from band whose name escapes me, and Andrew!! Also congratulations for those people who are about to be engaged or told me of any plans... I won't say you're names but good luck, I hope it works out!!

My College Life Thus Far

Alright! So I'm not that great at blogging, go figure. Well I've been at Snow College for quite some time now and it's basically been my life for the past 7 months so I think it deserves some mention. So I came to Snow all by myself eager to make some new friends and be independent. I moved in and found that I didn't really click especially with my roommates with exception of my actual in-room-roommate who I absolutely loved. Sadly as with all things in my life she moved at the end of last semester and I torn between liking having my own room, missing my roomie, and the fact that without her here my room becomes a mess very quickly and stays that way despite my struggles. The rest of my roommates are very nice, friendly girls and really pretty and stuff, we're just not really best buds so I mostly hang out else where's or in my room. They're fun to talk to though!

The school part of school is going really well! I got a 3.68 last semester which is my highest GPA ever!! I was super excited!! I made it on the Dean's List last semester and I'm hoping to do even better this semester. I was really worried about college and I didn't think I was going to be able to keep my academic scholarship (You have to have a combined GPA of 3.75) but it looks like if I really buckle down this semester, that anything is possible!!

I'm taking some pretty fun classes here, I'm in 4 different band classes and I have a love-hate relationship with them all. I love band and absolutely love the people in it, but I hate how much time it consumes and how I feel so not cool when it's all over (I made it in the Advanced Band... BARELY, I'm literally last chair) because I struggle a lot more than others. I'm in Acting classes and I'm loving it SO much!! Acting is really a huge love of mine and since I've come here I've grown a lot as an actress, I'm going to audition for the plays next year, cross your fingers for me! A class I took last semester that I really loved was Courtship & Marriage, and it sounds like it's a really pathetic class for girls who are trying to get married as fast as possible but it's not!! It was my favorite class ever and it applies to my life more than any other class ever has. If anyone goes to Snow I highly recommend you take this class from Poulson because it will change your life. I communicate better, understand people better, have a more realistic outlook, and just feel like it really has helped prepare me for life more than anything else ever has. I'm currently in a Developmental Psychology class which is really interesting. I really like this class, even though it's not an easy class because everything is so interesting and applicable. It's about the psychology of how people and children develop and it's really fun to learn about and I think it'll help me be a better mother when that time comes.

Something cool is I got handpicked to live in special housing next year. The easiest way to try to describe it is as a LDS sorority. Professor's recommend girls to live there who get good grades, live LDS standards, and are friendly girls. I got recommended and after talking to the man who owns the house I'm now going to live there next year!! It's really cheap and pretty nice, like it's an old house so it's not perfect, but I'm excited for awesome roommates because this year didn't quite work out as I would have liked. 7 girls live there and it's just said to be one of the best places you can live environment and roommate-wise which is great!! I'm also excited to make friends with some really good girls because usually I lack on the ammount of friends who are female, so I'm hoping this housing will help.

Awhile ago there was problems on campus with what I like to call "The Campus Creeper" who was a guy who was coming into girl's apartments and watching them sleep. There were also a number of attacks on girls on campus last semester. It's kind of funny because I assumed that hickville Ephraim, UT would be safe from all that, but it shows you're never really safe. Well in light of all this I have learned self-defense! Like serious rip-off-ear-bruised-crotches-pencil-stabbing self defense!! I feel a lot safer knowing this and I have the opportunity to teach other girls what I know which makes me feel better to know I'm helping others feel safer too. Part of me really wants to be attacked so I can use my awesome skills and seriously handicap the guy... but not a huge part of me wants that so I think for now I'll keep having people walk home with me at night and make sure I lock my doors.

Well I can't think of anything else really school related to talk about now except that I'm not super excited to start appling to other schools. The problem of picking a Jr. College (2 years) to go to is that I have to make the huge decision of what college to go to AGAIN come next year. I'm so bad at making decisions too... silly me!! Oh well. I'm sure I'll figure it out all over again. Well I promise to try harder to update this more and let you guys know what's going on with me.

Blog Fail

I am a blogging failure!!!! Haha, I'll try again sometime really soon, promise!

Ginger

Nothing that involves my life would be complete without me mentioning Ginger. Ginger is my dog, she's a Carolina Dog. I got her because one day my mother took me to Petsmart to look at the dogs they have from the shelter there every week. So we go and there she is! I wasn't too keen on her at first because I wanted a fun dog and she'd just been curled up on her bed sleeping the whole time. My mom talked me into taking her on a walk and I fell in love! She was so cute and lite right up. She was energetic, cute, friendly, and kinda looked like a fox (my favorite animal). The only thing wrong with her was her name: Halo. There was no way I was going to have a dog named after a stupid game. So I changed it to Ginger. She came home with us that day and she stuck to me like glue. (And has ever since)

The moment that made me realize that she was perfect for me was the very next day I gave her a bath. To understand this you'll have to drop around sometime when she's either wet or very, very excited. She used to pick up random objects and bring them to me like "Look what I got for you!!" She wouldn't chew them, she'd just carry them to where I was and drop them at my feet and wag her tail. Objects I received: pens, pencils, socks, a bar of soap, and my all time favorite; a roll of toilet paper!!

Recently I discovered a lump on her shoulder and we took her to the vet and they told us that it might be cancer or just a weird growth and so they removed it. My poor baby!! It killed me to see her like that. She had stitches all up her side (She has a pretty awesome scar, now). She was put in her crate for 3 weeks and only allowed around on a leash, needless to say she was NOT happy with us at all. They told us they weren't sure they got it all out though, but we decided that we don't ever want to have to put her through that again so we're not going to do anything about it unless she starts showing signs of being sick.

Here are some pictures of my baby:

She LOVES running on the treadmill, and brushing her teeth. The other dog is Rambler, Trevor's dog. He's a mutt, we don't really know what he is. But there's my cutie pie!! She's currently 4 years old!

Howdy!!

So I headed out the rodeo yesterday. It was tons of fun!! Probably the best part about rodeos is the freedom to yell obnoxious sayings you wouldn't normally get away with. Our favorites of the night include: "YEE-HAW!!", "Ride him, Cowboy!", "Reach for the skies!", "Boy-Howdy!", and (my personal favorite) "There's a snake in my boot!!" Good ol' rodeo!

Watching a rodeo always brings out an interesting argument inside myself: who's side am I REALLY on?

While watching the bucking broncos or the bulls I'm always on the side of the rider because I feel like that one is just a mere annoyance to the animal in question whereas the poor rider is holding on to dear life hoping not to break a bone or be trampled. The cowboys always win my sympathy there.

Where they do not, however, is when it comes to the roping events. I think if you were with me the first time I witnessed a roping event you'd attest that it is not my favorite event. My cousin still upholds that he thought he saw me crying at one point. (Not true! I had dirt in my eye!) I think the worst is when they rope the calf around it's neck and it clothes-lines itself. Or when the cowboy grabs it and flips it upside down. It all happens so fast I don't think the cow even knows what's happening. It's probably like "WOAH!! WHAT?! I do believe I am now upside down with all my feet tied together." Or something to that effect.

But whether I'm on the side of the cowboys or the animals a rodeo is something I love!! Favorite things to do: yell random phrases *Look above for examples*, pretend that what the rodeo clown says is *ACTUALLY* funny, find my friend working in a Snowie Shack and be kind enough to unplug it and then watch while he struggles to make it work, laugh at said friend's stupidity, look at all the pretty horses and wish I had one for my own, look at all the pretty cowboys and wish I had one for my own, and last but not least dress up as a cowgirl complete with cowgirl hat!!

And yes, I am aware it's a crummy picture. I tried taking them by myself which never turns out well because it makes me more self-conscious because I'm worried about how I look WHILE worrying about taking a good picture.
After minutes of struggling on my own I got Trevor to take a couple pictures for me:

Personally I think I did a better job...

I have no clue...

This one's my favorite apart from the fact that it's blurry, if he'd have taken it right it would have been a cute one. But the point really is to show off my hair, hat, and shirt... and maybe my bare feet and the clarinet in the background...