Guess What??!!! I can post pictures now!!!! :)

Hey guess what?? I finally figured out how to get my pictures on here!! :) So here are some pictures of the people from swim team with me!!!! :) They were all taken at either Championships for the semester (which we won, by the way!!!) :) or at the Swim Banquet which we had the Tuesday following. I'm so excited that I can finally post pictures on here again!! :) Yea!!!
This is a pic of Katy and me. We became really close friends this semester, and I don't know what I would have done without her!!! She is such a fantastic girl, and a great friend!! :)
Okay, so this isn't the best picture of Damien, but he was a really nice guy that I swam with in my lane quite a few times this semester, and he's a great guy, and a great swimmer!
So...this picture HAD to get on here, because this is Andrew Sturgess (we all call him Andy on swim team) and he is one of my swim coaches. I didn't ever get a chance to get a picture of Joe Free, who is my other swim coach of our team (but he did just get engaged over Thanksgiving break!!!) and he's a really nice guy too. I got such a good break on coaches this semester! :) Oh, and by the way, you probably couldn't tell, but to be in the picture with him, I had to stand on my tippy-toes, cause he is REALLY tall...lol!
Haha, so this is a cute picture of Katy that I just HAD to post here. Isn't she funny? :)
Here's a picture of Kendall and me. He's another one of my friends on swim team!
Yea!!! Me and Katy again...we had a great time at Championships.

Here's Tyson, another friend of mine, and also Kendall's close friend on the team.
HAHAHA!!!!!!!! Here's me and Katy again, being REALLY silly! :) We took a lot of pictures together at the swim meet!
Here's a picture of Stephen and me at Swim Banquet on Tuesday night. He was also on my team this semester.
Here's my table at Swim Banquet! I'm actually sitting in Katy's spot while she takes our picture, and for I did the same for her. From left to right are Susan, (I don't remember the other girl's name...I know, I'm so bad!! Sorry!), Ariel, Kendall, Melissa Dean (the other Melissa on the team), Andy, and me!!! Yea!! Go Spartans!!! :)

Ok, and finally, here is Alix. He's definitely a character. He would dress up in this costume he made himself to be the self-imposed "mascot" for our team. He's a really good swimmer too, but when he would dress up in between his races, he just cracked me up, so I thought that you guys would like a picture to see what our mascot looked like, lol. :)

Anyways, those are all the pictures from my swim team!!!! I hope that you enjoyed getting to see pictures on my blog again! Cause I sure enjoyed posting them!! :) Have a great week!

Tag--I'm It!!!

1. Best thing you cooked last week:

I would have to say that the best thing I cooked last week was on Sunday when I cooked roast, potatoes and carrots, and made a fruit salad and jello for when everybody came home. It was delicious!! :)

2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and what would you do?

Well, at least one of those can be x-ed out, since I don't have any kids for which to need babysitters, haha. :) If I could go anywhere and do anything, I think I would choose to go somewhere along the Atlantic ocean and just relax on the beach with my body soaking up WARM sun rays! I probably would choose Leah Blake and Taylor Bluth to go with, since we all know that Melissa is most definitely single. :)

3. When was the last time you cried?

I always think that questions like this are kinda strange, cause you never know if the question means a lot of crying, or just a little bit. Probably the last time I really cried was when Aaron died when I was 15.

4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago:

Um.........that is a really, really good question! I got the not-so-good end of the gene pool when it comes to remembering things...hence the reason Momma and I always joke that if you put our two low-memory brains together, you just might get a whole brain, and we just might remember what it is we're supposed to remember, lol. However, how old was I even 10 years ago? Um, let's see...I guess I was about 8 1/2, so I had just gotten baptized, and was therefore also going into a new school called McCoy Elementary (where, by the way, I got lost my first day trying to go to the restroom and back to my classroom...another thing I didn't get good on...I'm seriously directionally challenged).I don't remember much else, because, well--geez! I can't even remember what I'm doing from second to second, or even what I'm saying sometimes! never mind 10 years ago!! :( Oh well.

5.Five things you were doing 5 years ago:

Okay, I might be a little better at remembering here. :) (Hopefully, lol.) Let's see, so this would be freshman year of high school...hmm. Well, I suppose the biggest thing of the year besides going to high school for the first time EVER, would be my appendicitis. I had to have surgery...YIKES!!! Also, I had just begun high school band, and begun playing the flute for the first time. Also, I had stopped piano lessons, which is something I had been doing for SEVEN YEARS!!! But, I also was doing club swimming, swimming for school, lots of hard classes, and marching band to boot, so I didn't have time to continue on in lessons. :(

6. Five things you were doing 1 year ago:

Well, this will probably be even easier!! :) So, it was my senior year of high school, and I kept thinking, this is the last time I'll ever march a band show again, this is the last time I'll go to Homecoming again, this is the last time, this is the last time...you get the point. It was an exciting year, but a sorta sad one too. I was the lead oboe player in my section in band, I was swimming my heart out for my last year of high school swimming, and I was DIVING too!!! :) I do miss diving, that was really fun!I was also applying to BYU, and BYU-Idaho trying to get in to college. Also, I was getting to spend TONS of time with my best friends Leah and Taylor every day at school at lunch. And, I also went toPROM!!! It was so fun!

7. Seven of your favorite hobbies:

Reading has DEFINITELY got to be in there, and also swimming, for sure. I also like to paint figurines on occasion, and if I'm in the mood I like to cross-stitch or make hats, (as in the kind that you wear up here in Idaho since you're cold) :) and I like to spend time with children, friends, and family. :) I do have to say I also enjoy playing the piano, whether for church, or for myself or my family and friends. :)

8. Five favorite foods:

*PANCAKES!!!!! :) yummmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*French bread
*Brownies
*Cookies
*Garlic Bread!! (I just had to add that one, even if it does drive away company who don't like smelling bad breath, lol) :)

9. Five places you've been:

Um...let's see here...I've been to Adam-ondi-ahman, I've been to Nauvoo, I've been to the Gateway Arch (I've been up IN the Gateway Arch). Also, I've been to Florida, North Carolina, and Washington!!! :) (Sorry, I know that's more than five, I just couldn't help myself once I got on a roll...haha.)

10. Five favorite memories:

Well, one would have to be when I got baptized by flashlight (not too many people can claim THAT one, lol). Also, I always loved daddy-daughter days, and I would have to say that when I was little, riding horses, and helping daddy drive the car (aka steering the wheel) would have to be pretty high up there in my favorite memories. I also loved the summer that Momma and I lazied around and read the Chronicles of Narnia. :) One of the neatest memories also is of watching the snow come down so thick up here like I couldn't believe, and watching it carpet the ground. :) My next favorite memory will be when I finally get to come home for Christmas, and see my family, and Leah and Taylor again!!! :) I miss all of you guys SOOOOO much and am excited to be seeing you again soon!!!!!!!!!

Well, looks like that's all! I hope that you enjoyed hearing about me! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Yea!!! The Christmastime holiday is almost upon us!!!! :) I think that I love Christmas most of all, because it is a time to be with family and friends, and to enjoy the gift of our Savior's birth. Christmastime always puts me in mind of fragrant Christmas trees, and our old record player singing out the old Perry Como (I don't know if I spelled that right or not...) tunes, and the songs from the King family. Ahhh, good old Christmas! :) I remember when I was little, looking forward to Christmas eve, and thinking about what Santa might leave me. I loved the light-looking tradition every Christmas eve, and especially the family tradition of reenacting the Christmas story with Kristie playing piano afterwards and all of us singing the Christmas carols, gathered around the piano, with only the Christmas tree lights on.

Times have changed; I'm not that little girl anymore, and little nieces and nephews have been added to the Christmas scene, but it only makes me think even more happily on this time of year. I love singing an playing all the Christmas carols, and smelling the great Christmas morning breakfast that Momma still makes for everyone. :) Seeing all the Christmas wreaths up here, and the Christmas lights beginning to go up, and seeing the remnants of the last time it snowed on the ground make me wish for the Christmas season to always be here. But I guess then it wouldn't be as special, huh?

Well, I wish everyone the best of the Christmas season!!! Merry Christmas! A new year is just around the corner!! :)

My Thanksgiving

So this year I was all settled, ready to make myself a yummy roast for my thanksgiving dinner, and a fruit salad to boot. :) However, my FHE brother had other ideas. He invited me over to his family's thanksgiving day, despite my assurances that I would be just fine on my own. After his 117th insistence that I come with him (slight exaggeration, but you get the point), I finally gave in with a smile and told him that I would come. (By the way, I should probably mention that my FHE brother's name is Aaron.)
So Aaron and his dad picked me up around noonish on Thursday, and headed over to the junior high for a day of thanksgiving with his family. His family was all really nice, and there were only a few "interesting" comments made (by his grandpa, who is actually really funny). :) I played some basketball, dodge ball, and volleyball (I played volleyball with his younger sister, who is nine, and who stuck to me for the rest of the day...she's really cute). After that, we went over to his aunt's house in Rexburg, and played a game and then watched a movie. It was so fun!!!! All in all, I would have to say that I had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving day!!!!!! I hope that everyone else's was as good as mine was (I didn't get home till around eight or nine), and that everyone is doing well! Love you!!!

The Nicest Guys Ever :)

Hey guys!! I know that I haven't been blogging for a while, but Momma told me that I should blog about this. I still can't get my computer to put the pictures on anything, so I'll put my shopping backpack picture up when that happens.

But that's not actually what I was going to blog about. So, here in Rexburg I would have to say that I don't think I have actually opened a single door (well, except for my apartment door, of course) since I've been here. Guys here do everything for you!! :) I feel like I don't even have to lift a finger to do anything. Going to classes they open doors for me. Going to church they open doors for me. It doesn't matter if I know them or they know me...they just open the doors! (I must admit, I like this version of getting spoiled, haha.) I feel like I'm gonna be soft when I finally get back home!!!

It's not just doors though. Last night I went to the Galley (the school cafeteria) to eat dinner. I didn't know anyone there, so I sat down by myself and was planning on eating quickly. Then this guy came over to my table and said, "Hey, you looked kinda lonely, would you like to come and sit with me?" He then proceeded to help me put my dishes of food back on my tray, and then carried it for me over to his table when I agreed. He was really nice, and from Hong Kong, China! Wow! Talk about a long ways from home!! But he was genuine and nice, just like what seems to be the general standard for all the guys that are here at BYU-Idaho. :) I must admit, it's a nice thing that a girl can get used to VERY easily. :)

Well, all my roomies have left for home, and now I have the nice, big apartment to myself. It's actually kinda nice. I took the best-ever nap today, and I'm gonna go to bed early tonight. :) I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving break!! :)

Shopping Backpack

Hey! This post is so Amanda and all you guys can see what my super-amazing shopping backpack looks like! J Here is a picture that Mandi took of me today to display for the blog. Sorry that I don’t look all that great, because I felt really sick today, but I’m sure I’ll get better soon. I hope everyone had a great week! Love ya!

...Hey, I actually can't post the picture, so if you want, I will send you the pic that Mandi took of me. Sorry! I seem to be having a lot of technical difficulties with my computer tonight. Love ya though!

Some Favorite Quotes

I am compiling a list of quotes that I really liked, and I thought---well--why not share them? I'm sure everyone would like at least ONE of them, so I thought that I would post some good quotes out here for anyone to see if they wanted to read them:

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things." ~Author Unknown

"Soul-mates are people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you." ~Author Unknown

"If you're alone, I'll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow. If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile. But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me." ~Author Unknown

"Friends are kisses blown to us by angels." ~Author Unknown

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." ~Aristotle

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same." ~Flavia Weedn

"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." ~Lois Wyse

"A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should." ~Author Unknown

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." ~Elisabeth Foley

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." ~Henri Nouwen

"Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend." ~Plautus

"Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts." ~Margaret Lee Runbeck, Answer Without Ceasing

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend." ~John Leonard

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship." ~William Blake

"I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing." ~Katherine Mansfield

"Ah, how good it feels! The hand of an old friend." ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"In my friend, I find a second self." ~Isabel Norton

"Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow." ~Swedish Proverb

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away." ~Dinah Craik

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~Marcel Proust

"If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up." ~J.M. Power

"Life's problems wouldn't be called "hurdles" if there wasn't a way to get over them." ~Author Unknown

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." ~Author Unknown

"Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude." ~Ralph Marston

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~e.e. cummings, 1955

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." ~Judy Garland

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." ~Edmund Hillary

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go."
~Dr. Seuss

"Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right." ~Henry Ford

"Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers." ~Veronica A. Shoffstall

"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary."

"The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher." ~Thomas Henry Huxley

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." ~Henry Ford

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." ~e.e. cummings

"The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence but by oft falling." ~Lucretius

"Don't be discouraged. It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock." ~Author Unknown

"I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday." ~Author Unknown

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use." ~Earl Nightingale

The highlighted quotes were ones that I really liked. I hope that you liked them as much as I did (if you actually read this long quote-post...). Have a great day!! :)

Oh, and I forgot to add one of my favorite quote of all (it's a poem). Here it is:

"When gospel truth is gently sown
in my unlearned heart,
I hope it finds no hardened crust
on wayside paths apart.

Nor even drops on softer spot
with hardness just below,
Where faithless, poorly rooted sprouts
are doomed to never grow.

I pray it shall not fall in dirt
where thorns have made their bed.
Where choking plants, 'mid worldly cares,
grow fruitless, nearly dead.

But let that seed find fertile soil
in deep and clean abode,
And drawing life, yield true and full
to Him who gently sowed.

~Anonymous

Belated Halloween!! :)

This belated Halloween post is dedicated to Amanda--here's your post!! You asked for it, and here it is! :) Darci and I carved pumpkins the Sunday night before Halloween (which was also Darci's 18th birthday, by the way). We had such a good time! Here is the picture Darci took of my pumpkin and me.
Here is my jack-o-lantern! Scary, huh? Ok, so maybe not, but I sure enjoyed carving it...
Ok, I just had to post this picture. I had Darci take this one for me to post because I was reminiscing on my last Halloween when I made my pumpkin facial masque, and pretended to eat the slimy, gooey stuff. Haha, I love this pic! Although the pumpkin guts look more like cheese than the actual slimy stuff it really was...
Here is me carving my Halloween jack-o-lantern!! Yea for Halloween! Oh, and I forgot to mention that while we were carving our scary pumpkins, Darci played some cute Halloween music!
Here were the pumpkins pre-scary mode! :)
Here was what the inside of my pumpkin looked like. I don't ever think I have carved a skinnier pumpkin than the one that I did this year...
It's almost cleaned out! I LOVE carving Halloween pumpkins!
I hoped that you like the Halloween stuff! Momma also sent me a care package a while back, which I meant to post about but never quite got around to it...sorry! :( I finally got my beautiful shopping backpack, which DEFINITELY will help when carrying groceries, and she sent me a New Era, and my favorite type of gum. Yum! I would have to say that Halloween and Darci's birthday went great, and that even though our pumpkins have gone the way of the world (a.k.a. the trashcan), we had a great time this year!

A Normal, Sit-Down Dinner!! :)

Guess what?? I actually made a Sunday-like sit-down dinner!! And you know what?? Everyone sat down together for the first time this semester and ate dinner together! :) I was so happy (and everyone else was too) to have a honest-to-goodness home-cooked meal, that we all scarfed it down pretty fast. We even made garlic toast with it! Let me tell, you, that meal was the BEST meal I've had in a while! Yeah for normal food!! :)Sorry, this is a kinda blurry picture, but at least it isn't all turned around where you are breaking your neck to try and look at the picture... :) like other pictures I have posted that I could mention. This is what the kitchen looked like tonight.
This was an earlier picture that I took before I made the toast. Believe me, that was one of the most satisfying meals I've eaten in a LONG TIME! MMMM, MMMM!

Swimming

Hey! Momma wanted me to post a picture with my swim cap on from the Spartans. I decided to post the silly picture first since that one was the funniest. The green cap is for our Spartan-green colors, and our emblem is on the side of the cap for the swim meets. I hope you enjoy the pics! :)
I got a profile shot so that you could see our SPARTANS emblem on the side. :) I think it's funny that I'm in the Spartans group, because my high school mascot was the Trojan...lol, it's funny how things turn out. :)
And that's pretty much all, folks! I'm not getting as dizzy at workouts anymore (I was getting dizzy for a while because of the altitude, I think). Yea for the weekend!!!

Welcome to the 80's!!

Welcome to the 80's!!! Sorry that the pictures are kinda turned around, I always forget that you can't rotate them when you blog the pics, so they're always kinda messed up. However, last night we had a ward Halloween Party, and our FHE family dressed up as people from the 80's, but Darci wanted to be a Ninja, so that's what she went as instead. I talked to Kristie before we left for the ward party, and she said to have big hair, and tightroll my pants (since that's what they did in the 80's), so I kinda tightrolled my pants here, and put my hair up in a big, poofy side ponytail for the party. I had my make-up done by Mandi (you probably can't see it...thank goodness...but I have rainbow colored eyeshadow), and Sydney rolled my shirt I borrowed from her, and I also borrowed her big headphones, since they told me that looked 80's too. Here we all are before we left!
Sorry the picture of Sydney and Mandi are kinda blurry, but we were taking pictures fast before we left, and this is the best that I got.
And here's the picure of Darci in her Ninja costume. She loves Anamae, and all that kind of stuff, so this is what she had decided to be before our FHE group decided to go as people from the 80's. Doesn't she look like a true Ninja? :) Here she is striking a pose for a fighter Ninja.

:) A Little Late, But What A Day! :)

I'm sorry that this is coming so late to all of y'all.I have been doing a ton of homework, and bogged down with schoolwork lately, but I should have done this WAY before now.

I had such a FANTASTIC time this past weekend when Jenny and Logan came over! I learned how to play Guitar Hero, and I LOVED hanging out with my favorite cousin, hehe! We laughed SOOOOOO much, more than almost anything else, I think! :) It was great being with family for a while, even if it was only for the weekend. We spent pretty much all of Friday evening together, and then most of Saturday, and a couple of hours on Sunday together, and it really helped with the homesickness. We took some crazy-looking pictures, and Jenny sent me some to blog, but being the naturally LAME person that I am, my blog is of course NOT WORKING enough to let me post the pics that she sent me to take the place of the pics that I forgot to take this past weekend. Sorry! I'll try again later and see if they will post sometime in the near future!! :( Oh well! Technology........you can't live without it, and you almost can't live with it...sigh. I miss you guys! I hope that everyone is doing as good as I am (actually, I hope everyone else is doing better...I have a TON of homework to do...) :) I love you!!

More Snow Pictures!

This is what my world looks like right now. I hope that you enjoyed looking at my posts! I'll be sure to keep you updated! It started snowing who knows what time last night, and has pretty much let off by now, and is starting to melt little by little. But we still got around one and a half to two inches of snow!!

Looking Out My Window...

I Got Mail!

Yeah!!! I went to the downstairs lobby today to check the mail (I usually check it every day for my apt.), and lo and behold, there was a LETTER in my mailbox!! I couldn't believe it! I looked at the envelope, and not only was it just mail, but it was addressed to ME! I walked very quickly back to my dorm room, and opened it up. Inside was this cute card from Steven, Amanda, and Pierce. It mad my day! I have been starting to feel rather homesick lately, and this cheered me up so much! I love it when I get mail! This is my first Official Mail of the semester! I thought that I would post a picture of the letter and how cute it was so that you guys could all see my little miracle. Thanks Amanda and Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Isn't the card so cute?? I sure like it!!! Yeah for mail!! :)

Sorry!! I was just excited about my snow!! :)

Sorry that I scared you guys!! Nothing bad or even exciting happened, really. I was just expressing my emotions because it SNOWED! In September!! I mean, good grief!! You think that the weather will be nice AT LEAST through the end of the month, and look what happens—you end up walking around in pre-season snow, bundled up like Eskimos (note the picture of Darci and me). The picture of us two is when we were walking back from Walgreens (I needed to get some more milk), and then the pic of me was taken right afterwards, and I am showing how I’m feeling about the FREEZING snowy weather! I really tried to get some good pics of the snow, but didn’t really take them at a good time when the flakes were as big. But DON’T WORRY—I’m sure there will be PLENTY of snow pics before this semester is over! (Probably even before Halloween…) I went ahead and posted the pics that I took of outside our dorm when it was snowing…maybe if you blow them up really big, you might be able to see the snow flakes. When Darci and I walked to the Hart bldg. for fencing, I could look at the absolutely perfect snowflake form when they fell onto my black jacket. It was amazing!! I’m sorry I took the pictures when only the little flakes were falling…the really big flakes fell about the time that Darci and I were out and about going to and from fencing. I hope that you enjoy the pictures anyways! Who knows, maybe if you blow up the pictures big enough, you might even get to see the snow that fell over here since before I got up until early afternoon. Steadlily. It was so crazy! But I must admit, seeing all that snow, even if it was too hot to stick (it was only 24 outside, and it’s been in the 30’s and 40’s lately), I still enjoyed looking at it…not so much the walking in it! J I think that I’m gonna get used to this cold weather soon, because now even 30 degrees outside feels warm, and I KNOW that it really isn’t. As for the rest of you, I hope that you enjoy living the cold life while y’all stay nice and warm. And cozy. I miss you!!!

AAAaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

There is so much to tell you, but I gotta go to the RS broadcast right now. Love ya!! I'll post tonight, so be on the lookout for some pics!
-Melissa

Who Loves Music?? I DO!!!

If you couldn't tell, tonight I had a interview with my bishop tonight and received a calling. But what calling, you might say?? Well, I HAVE always wondered what it would be like to be part of the sacrament meeting music without getting the advantage of hiding behind the piano in front of all those people. You guessed it! I have officially been called as one of the two ward choristers!! Leah, if you're reading this, now I can say I am going to do what you have done all through Young Womens. Aagghh!!!! I can't believe this! It will be fun, though. Definitely a new experience. Also, I told Brother Johnson (one of the members of the bishopric--the one that interviewed me) that if the ward pianists ever got sick, and there was no one to play the piano that I could do it, since I've done that kind of thing for our ward for so long. So who knows?? I think it will be fun! I'm actually not conducting THIS Sunday, or the one after that (since it will be General Conference), but I will be conducting the Sunday the week after next week (if that makes sense).

On a different note, I went to swim practice for the first time today. Boy, am I EXHAUSTED! I just want to go to bed RIGHT NOW, but I can't since I'm blogging. Our first swim meet is Friday (tomorrow). I'll be swimming the 200 IM and the 100 Breast (big surprise). I think Sydney and Mandi will come, and maybe Darci if she's not already going to her kickboxing class. I got my swim suit right after practice today, and had to stand in line FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF!!!!!! And it wasn't even that long of a line! It was just that the only guy who was working at the equipment room tonight was new and didn't really know what he was doing. So I stood in line watching a bunch of girls getting their soccer, baseball, and volleyball stuff while guys stood in line for volleyball and baseball as well. Plus the swimmers who were getting their suits since the meet is tomorrow. :\ Oh well, I did get my suit, and it is a good thing that I got a size smaller, because the competitition suits run large, and I think that this suit will barely fit me (it's almost too large).
So, I think that that is it for the day. I hope that you guys are enjoying my day-to-day on campus living stories. Well, hasta luego! Or, in other, English words, I'll see ya later. Love ya!

Swing Dancing Experiences, and my day as a whole...

I thought that the swing dancing would be soo much fun...but actually, when I went there it wasn't what I thought it would be. It's an entirely DIFFERENT style of swing dancing, and much, MUCH harder.Plus, I've been spoiled having Brother and Sister Seal as my "dance instructors." The couple that taught the class weren't as good at demonstrating or explaining, and we only learned a few moves to do when dancing. However, at the same time across the hall is hosted a country dancing class, so I might try that out instead next week instead. (Oh, and the version of swing we did was called the "Lindy Hop," if that means anything to anyone...) Swim practice is today, so I got to go finish some homework before I go workout. That, and the fencing class and bishop's interview tonight. Wish me luck! I think today is going to be VERY hectic...

And did I mention that in my Child Development class we had to watch some videos of live birth?? There was a guy sitting right behind me too, but luckily he is going into nursing, so he wasn't quite as squeamish as I was (I think...) but it was still kinda weird...I didn't really watch most of it, cause I couldn't really look at it. But anyways, that was pretty much my day today. BESIDES the fact that it was only 30 degrees outside when I left for school this morning. What I wouldn't give for some of that nice, WARM Texas weather! :)

First Test of the Semester!

So today I took my first test of the semester! I was really nervous, to say the least, but since my first test was about something I knew (music) I wasn't TOO freaked out. I went to the Testing Center this afternoon around 4:30 pm. It wasn't even to bad of weather outside, since it was late in the day--it was only about 55 degrees outside. :) Much better than 32 degrees! I double checked all my answers (which usually isn't something I do on a regular basis) and then prepared to turn it in. Here they scan your bubble sheet as soon as you give it to them, and then you turn the corner and get to see your scores on the test you just took. I really liked being able to see my score right away, rather than wait for a week to find out. Anyways, so I go outside to find my score, an guess what??? I got a 100! I aced it! :) Not only that, but since I took it on the first day that the test was open, I got an extra 3 points! I am soooo excited! Now, if all my other classes will go so well, I'll be SET for the rest of the semester...but not everything is perfect. Oh, and I made the "Spartans" group for the Swim Team here, and we already have a meet lined up! It's on Friday (tomorrow), with the warmups starting at 5 pm. Whew! I'm gonna be so glad for the weekend to get here, so that I can FINALLY relax. Or not. Apparently while I was gone to a swing dancing class tonight, the bishop called my apartment and asked to talk to me to set up an interview. So I guess that I'll be getting a calling here sometime soon! I'll let you guys know what it is!

Look Out World, I'm Learning How To Fence!

I know this probably sounds pretty crazy to you right now, but I spent my morning today learning how to fence. Here at BYU-Idaho they have a fencing club! You don't have to pay anything, and they supply you with all the equipment that you need, such as a fencing jacket, a fencing glove, a helmet, and a foil (I just call it a sword...). Anyways, Darci and I rolled out of bed this morning to get to the athletics building at 11 this morning, and spent over two hours learning how to fence, and practicing fencing with other people in the class. It was soooooooooo fun! I learned the four basic parries (defenses) against an attack, and how to lunge, and and how to advance and retreat, and how to do an advance lunge. SO FUN! My arm hurts so bad right now, and my hand feels like it's going to be all cramped up tomorrow, ,and my leg hurts really bad, but that is just because I'm not used to it yet. Whew! That was such a fun experience! All those guys better watch out now, cause I'm armed and ready! Haha, just kidding. But they give classes every Thursday night and Saturday morning, and I'm definitely going from now on. Today was the first day, and I loved it (well, not the soreness, but everything else) :) I'll keep you posted on my lethal talent as it progresses (haha). This is so neat! Momma says that now I'll be like that girl on Ever After (a Cinderella movie) and be an amazing sword fighter. Maybe so!! We'll have to see as time goes on... :)

Here's Some More!

Okay, so here is a story for you guys. In the dorms here, if you don't follow the "boy rules" then you get "Q'd", which basically means you get quarantined. Your quarantine sentence therefore is that you don't get to have any boys in your apartment, no exceptions, for a full week. Plus, you get the privelege of having this lovely sign posted on your front door for all the girls and guys to see. oh, and the rules are that you have to have at least two lights on at all times, you have to have all four feet on the floor at all times, you have to have all curtains and blinds open at all times, and you have to have at least three conscious people in your apartment at a time. this is a picture of a "Q'd" sign on the apartment right next to us. So far we have 6 apartments that have been Q'd so far this year. (in the first week of school!)Here is a picture of the dorm apartments. I'm on the bottom floor, but this is what we look out of our window across to. The doors with white papers on them are the ones that have been Q'd.

This is our apartment. You can see Sydney standing at our door. ours is the only apartment with a doormat, so it's always very easy to tell which apartment is ours (which is nice when you're coming home from school and you have a long line of identical doors to pass...).
Here's our door in it's usual position--open. It's sooo hot in our dorm apartment, so when we're home we always leave our windows and door open to stay cool.
And this, last but not least, is teh pretty view of our inner courtyard from our front door. Nice, isn't it? I sure enjoy it. It's so peaceful, even though it's been raining today off and on. But even though it's so nice, I do still miss home. There's no place like home, after all...
If you'll stay tuned, I will do one more post today for you guys. I hope you enjoyed all the new pictures!