Today was pretty fun.. i had classes, like normal, but then after class, a whole group of us went to see "Don Giovanni". It was my first official, real, live opera. It was in italian with English subtitles, and it was pretty cool. I wish i could see a professional one. The only problem is, like some of us were discussing, that it tends to get slightly boring, because we live in such a fast-paced society, whereas in opera, they tend to repeat the same line about ten times. I've always been a sucker for live performances, though. Even just the little home-town plays my friends and i would go to.. i loved them. There was one where there was a grand total of like six actors, but it was still great! i miss being in chorus, and performing on a stage like that. Band is fun, but acting is so amazing. I love getting into the part, and being able to put my whole being into becoming someone else. i wish i had the chance to do that, even amaturely, here. It would be fun. Of course, i also want to learn about ten different languages, and i doubt i'll be able to do that, either. Let's see.. my current list is: Spanish, Hawaiian, ASL, Latin, Dutch, German, Welsh, Zulu (i don't even know if they would offer that) .. and pretty much anything else i could get my hands on. It would be so much fun!

It's a good thing i like science, too, though, considering that's going to be what spending like 80% of my college career doing. Oh.. how about, next semester, i'm taking PDBio220, and we get to look at cadavers! i'm kind of excited. I really just see it as scientific, and i've never been queazy. I'm the kind of person that sits there and watches them stick the needle in my arm when i give blood, and just comments "oh.. that's neat. wonder how they learned they could do that..". Dissecting things during freshman year biology was fun! (except for the starfish.. they felt disgusting). And we don't have to dissect the cadavers.. just study them. There's a separate class for dissecting the cadavers.. i think that's neat. i might want to take it, just because. and hey, it would fill one of my requirements for my major, so why not?

wow.. i've been really bad at keeping up with this. last night i forgot to post because i wanted to go to bed early.. at 10:30!! i was so proud of myself. then, we got up at 5:30 this morning to go to the temple for a ward temple trip. it was amazing, and then Bishop paid for all of us to eat whatever we wanted in the cafeteria.. it was so delicious! i like having home-cooked meals that i don't actually have to cook. i had an omelette, and part of a strawberry-and-cool-whip-topped-waffle, and some bacon, and some sausage, and hashbrowns, and a biscuit, and juice. it was really good. but, then, we had to run to English class. almost. speedwalk.. we made it the full mile in just about ten minutes.. i was proud of myself! it's amazing how much easier walking has become out here.
but, it's time for me to go to bed, so that i can get up early and go to the library in the morning. yay fun! lol..

yuck. i have finally discovered the 'joys' of being sick at college. I feel really bad, because i have a paper due tomorrow (now today), and i haven't even started yet. i'm not too worried.. i'm getting up early in the morning to do it. i just didn't have the willpower to do it today. i've been parked on the couch, drinking hot tea. Silly sinuses. I hurt everywhere, and my throat feels gross, and my sinuses are draining. i'm sure everyone wants to know this, but still. And, i realized that i haven't been hungry, so i haven't eaten anything since a little bit of mac 'n cheese around noon. 12 hours with only a cookie isn't a good idea. I just ate a hot dog, which seems gross, but it's the only thing in our dorm that sounded halfway-appetizing, and i knew that if i tried to force myself to eat anything else, i would probably get sick. i hope this goes away soon, otherwise i'm not going to have a good week. too much to do.. too many papers to write, too many tests to take. i'm going to try as much as possible, but tonight i just couldn't function.

It's been a few days since i've posted.. Friday night, i was locked out of my dorm, and i didn't know if my roommates were awake, so i didn't want to call... so i slept in Starla's kitchen, on the couch, instead, which meant i didn't have my laptop. Last night, when i came in, Rachel was already asleep, so i just went straight to bed, so i didnt interrupt her. So, i'm posting tonight.

here's a list of my current 'loves': Tunnel singing. hugs. multi-dorm dinners. playing sardines at the MOA. L&T BLT wraps. dorm prayer. facebook. missionary tag. red rover. human knots. hugs. my friends. laser tag. 3-mile walks (those happen quite frequently..). the Maeser building. English class. working hard on homework so i have time to play. taking time to play because i have been doing my homework. hugs. chilly days. my peacoat. spontaneous muffin moments. my laptop. charlie the unicorn. muffinfilms.com. frozen yogurt. boots from DI. DI. riding in a car. going off campus. hugs. skirts. comfy long-sleeved shirts. my roommates. laughter. English class. my family. my dog. music. hymns. the gospel. the sabbath. socks. church. my bishop and counselors. family home evening. hugs. comfy pajamas. my polka-dotted sheets. halloween parties. friends that loan me clothes. pictures. life.

so, after i wrote the last post, i took a quick nap (it was around noon), and then headed off to class. I signed up for three honors classes today, after Civilization. So far i have on my schedule Honors Calc 1 (with a lady who is supposed to be amazing), Honors BoM, and Honors American Government.. i can drop those at any time, though. After doing that, i went to Jazz, and then Starla and i had Teriyaki Stix (chinese food) from the Cougareat, and spent two hours at the library doing homework. I came home from that, and hung out with some of my buddies. Since it's Thursday, it is movie night, and we all watched Hercules, then a group of us went out and played Sardines on campus, and then missionary tag. After that, we walked the Helaman boys (Eric and Kris) home, and now i'm probably driving Rachel nuts by typing, so i need to go to sleep. It was a good day, and it was nice ot take a few hours away from homework, especially since i don't have English tomorrow, so i will be studying all day. yay fun! good thing i've always liked school.

So.. quick update. i made an 84 on my jazz test, which isn't good, but it's the best that i've done. so far. i really need to start studying earlier. i think i'm going to become a hermit for awhile. that's what i've done for the past three days, and i definitely get more accomplished. I have a 10-page research paper due on Wednesday, so i definitely need to do a lot of work this weekend.. and another 3-5 page paper due on Tuesday. and a test i need to take before Tuesday.. that i still need to study for. And a Jazz presentation to prepare.. but i think i can do that next week. And a BoM quiz to take this weekend.. and the 10 readings i have to do for that. Tonight. and a book that i have to read for Civ, and some worksheets i have to do for English, and three chapters in my Jazz book i need to read. and two chapters in my Biology book. and a few more pages of sociology, as well as studying for the midterm next week. yay fun. i'm going to die this weekend. so much for social life.. our entire hall has been dead. there's been almost no one out in the lobby, with the exception of last night's scare.
Oh yeah.. to update. Krista came home from the hospital early late last night/early this morning, to get some of her stuff, and she's staying with some family friends for a few days. She's doing okay, but they said she needs a break, because her seizure was caused by lack of sleep. I swear, college kids would sleep more if we didn't have so much work all the time. *sigh*. i guess i have three more years of it.. i need to get used to it eventually.

Such a random day..

English was canceled this morning, so i slept in until 9:30, and it was pretty great. I took a shower, and then studied until 1:30 for my jazz test. Then, i went to sociology (my absolute favorite class) and biology (not my favorite class). Then, Starla and I ate dinner at L&T, the salad and wrap shop at the Cougareat.. it was amazing. I had a BLT salad. it had lettuce, and cheese, and a LOT of bacon, and tomatoes, and ranch dressing, and cucumbers, and other stuff.. i dont' remember what all else was on there. but it was yummy. After dinner, i came home and worked on homework until 10:30, at which point i took a break, and ended up downstairs dancing with Eric, Kris, Heidi, Rachel, and Jessie. Funny story: Heidi and Eric were doing this dance move that requires grabbing the girls hands and flipping her over.. and they'd done it a few times, and wanted to get it to look better, so they tried again. well, halfway through the flip, you hear RIIIPPP!! Heidi had split her pants, and we were all cracking up. Eric almost dropped her on her head, she was laughing so hard, and Rachel was literally rolling on the ground. Fomrcilth! (which, FYI, means Freaking Out My Roommates Cause I'm Laughing Too Hard) So, as we were all laughing, we were walking up the steps from the basement, and as soon as we get up there, the first thing we notice is that the dorm lobby is silent. Then, we see the group of people kneeling on the floor, saying a prayer. looking more, we see paramedics standing at one of the dorm doors, and an ambulance outside. Since the prayer was just finishing, we started asking questions. Evidently, one of the girls (Krista) two dorms down from mine had a seizure in the middle of talking to her friend on the computer. It was so scary.. i went into her dorm, because i wanted to see if Starla was in there, because it was her dorm. all of krista's roommates were so shaken up, and so were a bunch of the other girls in the hall. we all love Krista-she's our choir leader, and she's a really fun girl. I stayed in her kitchen, because the paramedics were in the hallway of the dorm, and as soon as they took i went to find Starla, and let her know what was going on, because she didn't know. After finding her, and making sure she was okay, we rounded up a bunch of the people so that we could say another prayer. We ended up with a group of probably forty girls and guys outside, huddling (it's really cold). I, not thinking, ran outside in my shorts and t-shirt, barefoot.. well, one of the guys offered me his slippers. I tried to say no, but he wouldn't let me.. i love BYU guys. they are all really sweet. So, i used one slipper, and starla used the other, because she was cold and in shock, and we all had a prayer together. It was so strange, going from such a fun time to such a serious one. Evidently one of the guys in our ward, David somebody, was in the ER as well, because he had a mini heart attack. What a night! So, consequently, i got no more studying done, even though i was planning on it. It's okay, though.. Starla needed me a bit more than studying did. We all just hope and pray that both Krista and David are going to be okay.
So, Krista was really blessed. When she had this seizure, she was using her webcam to talk to her friend from back home. Krista had a seizure seven years ago, and that friend was with her for that one, too, and so she knew the signs. She was able to call Krista's roommate and give her some information about what was happening.. its a really good thing that she was on the computer with this friend. and that she was on her bed, where she couldn't help herself.
We are planning on getting a group together to see her if she is still in the hospital tomorrow.

So... day two.. i did get on facebook after 12, but that's because i clicked the wrong link.. i thought i had clicked on this, instead of facebook.. so i exited out as soon as i saw it. Other than that, though, i haven't been on it at the forbidden times. I'm going to do this! It helps so much.. i'm so much more productive. i always thought i studied alot before, but i realize that it was studying/talking, and i don't remember the stuff hardly at all.

Today was pretty boring. I officially hate my History of Jazz class. I took a test today, and i'm pretty sure i didn't do well. I studied and studied and studied, and i knew everything on my flash cards.. but the test was so ... random. I completely studied the wrong things.. Last time, the test was oriented on the different players, what they played, and how they contributed. This time, it was all about the significance of the songs. I knew the players, and their significance, for the most part. I studied what i thought i needed to.. i made flash cards, i listened to the songs, i read the book.. i don't know what to do. i might go to the professor and talk to him, and see if theres some way i can make up some points.
I am definitely not a history person. I can't get a timeline in my head, or make connections between people or ideas. It just doesn't work. give me a math problem, or a science theory, and i can solve it with my eyes shut (just a slight bit of exaggeration there..), but give me a few people in History, and i immediately forget. I can't hold onto the information. Even things who sings my favorite song, or who wrote my favorite book... forget it. I won't know.
And the worst problem of all? The only grades in that class are the tests. if there was homework, it might be a little easier.

Now, after that rant, let me add that i'm doing fine in almost all of my class. I absolutely adore sociology, and english. They keep my interest really easily, and the teachers are easy and fun. Book of Mormon, Civ, and Biology aren't too bad.. i've got fairly good grades, and i'm enjoying them. And i officially love BYU. It's the best.

So, i did really well not getting onto facebook at the wrong times today! Whoot! lol.. at 12:01, i had four different people pop up and tell me to go to bed.. it made me laugh, because that's what i told everyone to do.. I would have been off already, except we were in the middle of dorm prayer, and i had forgotten to sign out. Day one down.. maybe i should make this a short-term goal, so that it's actually got an ending. Here's what i'll do: if i make it two weeks without breaking my rules, i will buy myself a new shirt. maybe. or do something equally self-indulging. I'll have to come up with what.. ice cream maybe?
Anyway.. off to study for the written half of the Jazz test. *sigh*. Wish me luck!

Monday. yay, or yuck?

Monday. yay. lol.. as far as mondays go, today wasn't too horrible. I went to the library for class this morning, and ended up getting a bunch of books for my research paper, which is a comparison of the Israelite exodus, the Nephi/Lehi exodus, and the pioneer exodus. i'm excited to actually sit down and start reading. umm.. i studied most of the day, taking breaks pretty much only to go to class. I had a quiz today in Biology, and i know i did terrible on it, but it wasn't through lack of studying. We had two different substitute teachers while our Professor was gone, and today was the first day he was back, and he tested us on the material we learned from the other two professors. And I know i'm not the only one that did bad, because it was a "group" quiz, where you can talk to people from the whole class.. and i checked my answers, and everyone else struggled just as bad. Good thing quizzes are only worth 5 points, and if the sees how bad they are, he might just throw them out. maybe.

FHE was fun tonight.. we played Capture the Flag. Oh.. we were in the middle of playing, and i see someone running across the field, and then i notice Kate chasing after him. the first thought to cross my mind was "when did one of our brothers switch sweatshirts? no one was wearing white.. oh wait". As i came to the realization that this was not, in fact, a member, of our group, i stared in slow motion as i saw kate come up to, and almost tackle, this person. He whirls around, and looks at her in surprise, and i hear "oh.. shnitzel! SORRY!", and a whole lot of laughing.. i was laughing so hard i couldn't pay attention to the game. Poor guy.. he was just out for a jog and ended up being attacked by a girl just trying to tag her opposing teammate.

After capture the flag, kate and i went downstairs to do laundry, and it turned into a three-hour expedition including iPod iDol, crutches, biting laundry detergent, pictures, and a whole lot more. It was fun, and i did manage to get some more studying in. i feel better about my jazz test tomorrow than i did about the last one.

Oh.. and i've made a decree for myself: No facebook between the hours of 8am and 5pm, and no non-school-related internet after midnight. I'm determined to see how long i can stick to this. It starts tomorrow, though, because i didn't decide until halfway through today. Good thing my blog is partially for English class :)

Coming tomorrow: pictures from our rock climbing expedition! yay fun!!

yes, i know i'm posting again. but today was a good day. i woke up and went to church, and then came home and made lunch (although, i burned my arm frying up a mexican pizza). Then, hall meeting. After hall meeting, i "went" visiting teaching with my companion... i couldn't really "go", because my roommates are the people i visit teach, and they were sitting in the kitchen with me already. Afterwards, i went with Nate, Jessie, Stella, and Madison up to the canyon, and we took lots of pictures and went rock climbing and marveled at nature. It was amazing. I came home, and Brenna made enchiladas for dinner.. mine were just chicken and cheese, because i don't like peppers, but they were yummy. Then, right after dinner, A bunch of us (Rachel, Carly, Heidi, Starla, Ashley and I) walked over to Helaman Halls to visit Eric. We hung out there for awhile, and then came back home, and i talked to my parents on the phone. then, it was time for roommate meeting, and then tunnel singing!!! tunnel singing was great, as always. It was COLD, though! i only wore a sweatshirt, thinking it was going to be warm, like it usually is in the tunnel, but we stood toward the outside, and i froze. Now, it's time for bed, so that i can crack down and do a load of homework and studying tomorrow. i swear i'm not going to leave the library except to go to class.

Pictures of Homecoming!

My fingernails.. thanks Rachel!

Look, it's me!!!

Dinner Party!

Jessie and Me

Me and my girls! :) Ashleigh, Me, Caralee, Dani, Harriet, Caitlin, Elise, Jessie, and Rachel

Here's our whole group: left to right: Ashley and Jackson, Dani and Geoff, Naomi and Chris, Starla and Sam, Caitlin and Nate, Elise and Josh, Jessie and Jacob, Rachel and Nathan, and Steven and me.

It was soooo cold outside during this picture! It was in the middle 30's.. i was freezing!

SNOW!!!

IT'S SNOWING!! :) .. It's been a really lazy day.. i spent most of the day hanging out with Starla, Ashley, Rachel, and Eric, in Starla's kitchen. it was fun just to take a few hours to do nothing, especially since it was cold outside. so, we ended up walking Eric back to his apartment at 2:30, and on the way back, it began to snow.. alot. it was really thick. we are pretty sure it's not going to stick, but it was so fun to walk in. I was really grateful for my peacoat.. it kept me warm.. at least until we had an impromptu snowball fight from the snow accumulated on the cars. It was so fun! We rarely get enough snow in TN to have a snowball fight.. i'm looking forward to the first real lasting snow. I know i'll get tired of it quickly, but the first snow is always amazing.

So the dance tonight was amazing. It was the best dance i've ever been to! We started getting ready at 12:30, but i had a class until three, so i came over to Starla's dorm after that.. It was so crazy! we had at least half a dozen dresses that needed hemmed, and and we were trying to deal with doing hair and makeup, and making dinner.. we were supposed to eat dinner at 5:30, but we ended up calling all the guys and telling them to come at six. Well, at six, half of the girls weren't dressed, and we still had to hem two dresses, and finish hair and makeup procedures.. so when they guys started showing up, we had one of our friends tell them all to go downstairs. Thankfully, they were patient, and so we were all done and ready by 6:30, and then we sat down to eat dinner. In our group, there was me and Steven, Starla and Sam, Jessie and Jacob, Ashley and Jackson, Dani and Geoff, Rachel and Nathan, Naomi and Chris, Caitlin and Nate, and Elise and .. Jeff?
Anyway, dinner turned out really well. we had parmesan chicken, salad, rolls, mashed potatoes, and peas, with mini cheesecakes for dessert. the food as delicious, and after we were all full, we cleaned up quickly and left. We got to the dance at about 8:40, and stayed until midnight. It was soo much fun. The music was great, and we ended up with a group of like 40 people from our ward. I didn't even end up being tired, even though i was on my feet the entire time. I didn't sit down the entire time. Afterward, we all decided to go out for ice cream, so we went to Wendy's, but they were closed, so we just came home. Now, i'm really tired, so i'm going to sleep. Pictures will come as soon as they are posted on facebook :)

I went to a jazz concert today, for my history of jazz class, and it was amazing! Our professor played this instrument that i had never seen before.. it looked kind of like a euphonium, except it had two bells, and you could switch between sounding like a euphonium and sounding like a trumpet.. it was crazy! i want one.. and then, they had a soprano sax, but instead of looking like a clarinet, it looked like a mini sax.. it was the same shape as a normal sax, but it was only like a foot long. it was adorable.. i want one of them too :).

On another note, i'm really excited for the dance. We have, i think, 10 couples that are all eating dinner together tomorrow, in our dorm basement, and then heading down the dance at Thanksgiving Point. It's going to be so fun.. i painted my nails today.. well, Rachel helped. My fingernails are clear, with silver tips, and my toenails are dark blue with silver tips. i just need shoes.. and jewelry.. and makeup... and a purse. Yay for borrowing things! maybe one of these days i will decide to be a little more girly and actually buy my own things.. but right now, it's more fun just to use my friends things.

Anything else exciting? Hmm.. nope. it's bedtime.

Homecoming!

So how about i'm going to a Homecoming dance on Friday. I'm pretty excited.. i'm going with one of my friends, Steven, (although he hasn't officially asked yet.. he was going to call, but i told rachel to tell him that's not allowed..). I kind of got a little roped into it.. my 'fatal' mistake was going to Starla's house to try on dresses. Her mom sews, so her family owns about 30 formal dresses that they loan out, free of charge, to people.. her mom "mormonizes" them, and alters them, if need be, and then they just let people borrow them. But anyway, i went with a group of eight other girls, and they were all trying on dresses, and they wanted to take pictures, so they pretty much made me try one on too, for the pictures. Then, they managed to convince me that i really do want to with them.. and so i texted Rachel, and she told me that Steven was planning on asking me, just as friends, because he knew that i kind of wanted to go... so, nothing is final, but as of now, i have a dress, and i have a 'date', and a group of people to go with. I'll post pictures after friday night, so that people can see my dress, and my Utah friends. I hope it's fun!

So, today was pretty relaxing.. we (meaning me, starla, and ashley) went to the temple after classes, but it was weird because we only did 5 confirmations each , and we couldn't do baptisms. Evidently, every tuesday is "guy night" at the temple. The guys are really behind on baptisms, and they need to be done so that the missionaries have people to do endowments for. So, every Tuesday, all of the guys in the surrounding stakes and wards come to do baptisms, and they have a goal of 500 people baptised that night. I was slightly disappointed, but we ended up just sitting in the chapel-ish area in our white clothes, and reading and just thinking. it was a really nice break from classes. Then, i ended up just spending the night hanging out with friends. I don't have any official homework due tomorrow, and i did most of the this weekend, so that i could be caught up.

Yum.. i just came into the dorm and my roomies have mad tomato soup, with milk in it! i haven't eaten since before the temple at six, so i was slightly hungry, and while eating at one in the morning isn't a good idea, tomato soup is really good. and slightly comforting. it's been a long day.. i need to go to bed.

I <3 BYU

So, it was really great to come back to BYU last night. It's funny how often people talk about "the bubble" at BYU, and how 'harmful' and 'biased' and 'naive' the bubble is. You know what? I love the bubble. It was so strange being in Wal-Mart and seeing people with tattoos, and piercings, and foul language. I was in the 'real world' again, and i didn't really like it. Don't get me wrong - it was great being with Jamie and Justun, and being able to go shopping at some place larger than the creamery... but I was excited to be back on campus with my friends. It's amazing how you can miss someone so much after two days, when you've only known them for about a month... a bunch of someones, actually. We have such a great ward - i'm pretty sure i could recognize almost all of them, and put names with most of them.

And the best part about being back on campus? Tunnel singing. It's the highlight of my week. It's so amazing to be able to stand in a group of probably a couple hundred kids, and sing your heart out. Sometimes almost literally, judging by the tears and grins and struggling words of those around you. And somehow the fact that you had to face the cold walk - a tiny sacrifice - and leave your bed and homework and comfortable dorm to get there makes it seem all the better. It's cold and dark, and sometimes wet, outside, and you aren't feeling very good, and then you step into the glowing tunnel, and suddenly you are surrounded by friends, and warmth, and the spirit is definitely there. As a matter of fact, i don't know that you could avoid it if you tried. But, why would you try? I wouldn't.

Oh, what a wonderful morning!

So, i finally decided to join the blogging fad. My English teacher challenged us to do five minutes of journal writing (blogging counts!) a day, and i'm not very good at it, so we'll see if I can remember to keep up with this.. with as much as I'm on the computer, it shouldn't be very difficult.

So, I've been at BYU for a month, and I love it. Classes are great, and, while i'm having to adjust to the workload, i really love being a student. There's always something fun happening at BYU - random games of spoons, sliding down hills with the sprinklers going, pickup games of volleyball. Our dorm is one of the most social in the hall- there's ALWAYS half a dozen people over that don't live there.. sometimes more.

Anyway, I was 'rescued' this weekend by my sister and her husband, so i've gotten to eat food that I haven't cooked, and slept in a quiet house (aka no construction or people talking or guitars being played..), and the best part? I slept in until 11:30 both mornings. After getting MAYBE six hours of sleep a night, to get more than ten hours was amazing! Maybe this will be enough to keep me from being tired for the next few weeks.

We got to go to conference yesterday, and it was pretty amazing. I ran into my friends/roommates afterwards. I knew Nate, and Kate, and Brenna, and Jeff were going to be there at the same session, and i was supposed to have my phone so that i could text and see where they were sitting. However, we had been waiting for fifteen minutes for the Trax train to show up, and right as it pulled up, i realized i didn't have my phone - i had left it in the car on the other side of the tracks. *sigh*. So, i got on the train, and just prayed that i'd get to see them, especially since i needed to explain why i wasn't answering their texts. Well, after conference, Jamie and Justun and I were walking to Tucano's (The best restauran ever..), and i hear someone that sounds familiar.. i turn around, and there stands Kate, and Nate, and Jeff, and Brenna.. they didn't realize i was in front of them, either.. kind of crazy, but definitely an answer to my prayers.

I promise the rest of my posts won't be this long.. as for boring - no promises there. Every day kind of runs into each other at BYU.

--Dana