I got to register for next semester on Wednesday! I attached a photo of my schedule as of the moment. I have to finish my culinary arts cluster by the end of next semester, which is why I'm taking 3 classes related to that! I will likely take math as well, and in that case I've got to drop a 3 credit class, but maybe I'll put it off a little longer. We'll see- I"m really happy with my schedule at the moment.
So you know that Lazyman Ironman Triathalon I mentioned last time I posted and how I said that you have a month to complete it? Well I finished the 2.4 miles of swimming last Friday, the 26 miles of running on Monday, and then the 112 miles of biking on Tuesday! It was great, but just a warning- if you ever decide to bike 36.5 miles at once, be prepared for the feeling that your legs forgot how to walk as soon as you're done! I feel so strong, and actually really impressed that I was able to do it, and to finish so quickly. It took me about 10 days to complete (homework does have to be done occasionally) but I was the 7th person participating to finish. Laurel and Lydia went and finished swimming while I finished biking so they finished 8th and 10th. Laurel was determined to beat someone and did (the guy she wanted to beat ended up coming in 9th.) It was a lot of fun in some strange way, but I'm planning to do it again come February.
On Sunday Lydia and I made a gluten free dinner for our friend, Steven. We often get together with a group for dinner on Sunday nights, but they aren't always gluten free meals, and so Lydia came up with the idea to make dinner for him. It was fun, and I got to use some of my GF flours- which I should probably use more often.
Last week I went to see a production called Ezekial: Son of Man. It was written by members of our music staff and performed by them, a large percussion ensemble, and 2 choirs. It was really neat, they did a great job telling the story of Ezekial through song and sound effects.

yeah I don't know what to title this one...

I'm really not very good at posting every week! Oh well. It started snowing finally. It started yesterday evening and hasn't stopped completely quite yet, it was kind of fun to walk to the gym in fresh snow this morning, but REALLY cold. I've been doing the Lazyman Ironman Triathalon that our school does with Laurel and Lydia. So swimming in the morning and then biking or running in the evening. It's hard, especially to fit it in around school (cause I hear that's why I'm up here), but it feels so good!
I didn't do anything for Halloween last week, well actually I did. I didn't feel 100% so I slept pretty much all day. I went to my one class bright and early before the sun, and then went back to bed for the rest of the day. It was great, I think I've fit at least one day like that into every semester now.
On Friday ( El Día de los Muertos) all the Halloween candy goes on sale!!! So I went with Laurel, Lydia, Charlotte, Brittany, Stephan, and Lane to a bunch of different stores to get the discounted sugar and then we proceeded to watch movies that we could make fun of and eat as much of the candy as we could handle. We didn't quite finish it, so we repeated the same activity on Saturday.
Sunday we (the same group of people + Heather, Jordan, and Jennifer) went to Lane's apartment and made potstickers. He served his mission in Japan and so we used a recipe that he'd received from one of his investigators. They were pretty great!
I'm finally done with midterms!!! I'm so glad :) I took the last 2 yesterday, now just got to make sure I'm prepared further in advance for finals than I felt I was for midterms. It doesn't help that I had tests spread across 3-4 weeks, I don't even remember how long it was.
I got to Skype my family on Sunday, and that was definitely one of the highlights of my week. Living off on my own is fun and all, but I do miss my family quite a bit :)

Time for midterms... yay

This last week was so great! I have wonderful roommates and amazing friends up here :) I also love that the weather is cooperating, no snow so far! Supposedly that's going to end tomorrow, but I'm really hoping not.
We added to our tradition Tuesday (that's what Laurel, Lydia, Charlotte, and I have been calling it since we have a very set routine for Tuesdays) last week, we added in cartwheels outside with Heather's boyfriend while he waits for her to get out of class. It's fun, but the soon coming snow could very well put an end to it- we'll see.
I feel like in a lot of the stuff I post I talk about hanging out with Laurel and Lydia, but I suppose that's just because that's generally where I end up when I'm tired of doing homework for the day (I'd say done with, but that is an impossible feat up until finals are over.) Anyways, we went to see The Haunted Swing (the movie, not the actual site) and it was actually fairly well done. It was put together by a bunch of drama/visual arts majors at our school- so if you're in South-Eastern Idaho, it's showing in a few different theaters and you should go see it! Their friend Lane drove us up, and we ran into Heather and Jordan as well, so what started as a little group got bigger- we'd actually planned on having a lot of people in our group and that didn't happen. After we had sufficiently frightened ourselves we went with Lane to take care of a dog that he is watching for someone. I love how in Idaho you can drive just a few miles and suddenly you're in the middle of nowhere and you can see millions of stars that you can't see at home due to light pollution, but right after a movie that left you jumpy- it's not quite as wonderful because, well because you're in the middle of nowhere and there's no streetlights or anything! Moose (the dog we were going to see) was so happy to see us though. He kind of reminded me of my Grandma's labs- just a mix of both of them, definitely not as hyper as Zac can be!
It's time for midterms- somehow I forgot how stressful they can be. I did pretty well on my bakery lab one- it tasted wonderful but because the ingredients were messed up I got docked points (I used to much honey so the bread tasted better than the actual recipe.) I got 100% on my Book of Mormon midterm :) My microbiology and women's health midterms are tomorrow (I should really be studying for them right now...) and than I have a microbiology lab and bakery midterm at the beginning of next week- so glad that my English class doesn't have one as well! Other than the stress of midterms, and not being able to believe that this semester is already halfway over, this semester is going fantastically and I'm so glad to be living with the girls that I am and to have my friends living so close by. :)

2 weeks in one- life is getting busier!

     I'm falling behind! Well on keeping this up to date that is, I'm only falling behind here because I'm trying to keep up in classes as well as having lots of fun out here in Rexburg before the snow hits :)
     I suppose I should start with last week. Other than a lot of homework, I spent a lot of time with Laurel and Lydia (although we're generally having "homework parties" but they're more fun than doing homework by yourself!) Last Wednesday I was talking to Laurel and I think she could tell I was overwhelmed- granted I had just taken a microbiology test and not done quite as well as I had hoped, so she suggested that we study together. Studying with someone actually is super effective because you feel more guilty when you get off task! Who would've guessed? Anyways, we spent all Thursday working on homework together between classes. She had a date later in the evening and so I think she assumed that I would head back to my place after she left- but I ended up hanging out with her roommates instead, which was so much fun! When she came back she didn't realize at first that I was still there and started telling her roommates about her date. About mid-sentence she stopped and noticed me, jumping backwards she asked why I was still there, it was really funny! I ended up spending the night there and walking to class with them in the morning since Lydia and I have class in the same building.
     I actually spent most of Friday with them as well after we were done with classes. I went to their FHE brother's Ultimate Frisbee game with them and then we went to their roommate Charlotte's, choral concert. We stopped and got hot chocolate on the way back and hung out at their apartment. Oh! The other exciting thing that occurred last week is that Allie informed us that she's coming back up here :)
     This last week was great, I have amazing friends and I love my classes, even though I find them immensely more difficult than I expected them to be. This week was interesting in that I got to know Laurel's roommates better and got to spend time with them.
     On Tuesday I invited Laurel and Lydia to come to my apartment complex's hot tub with me, which was a lot of fun. I ended up spending the night over at their place again- before this semester I never would've dreamed of staying the night somewhere else on a school night, but it's convenient in that we can get each other up (well sort of) and I don't have to walk to class alone :) Anyways, Laurel's family was coming up Wednesday evening so I helped her clean up her apartment in between classes. And after going to a information meeting with Lydia (where they fed us dinner which was great) we ended up going to an ice cream place with Laurel's family and some of her other friends and roommates.
     The information meeting that Lydia and I went to on Wednesday was for a service activity on Saturday. Our activities committee planned a "family day" for all of our professors and their families where they could come and have fun without having to pay. It was great! We left at 10am to get there by 11 so that we could be "trained" and fed lunch before people started showing up at 1. Lydia and I were put in charge of that game where you hang doughnuts from a string and then people try to eat them without using their hands. The little kids (like 1-2 years) were so funny. Their parents would tell them not to use their hands, so they would bite at it a few times before just grabbing it and shoving as much of it in their mouth as possible while looking at everyone else like they were wondering why no one else just used their hands! We ran out of doughnuts around 4pm, the activity went until 5, out of 150 doughnuts only 3 fell on the ground and we split one between the 2 of us- they were really good! I had been a little worried about losing 9 hours I was going to use to do homework (we got back around 7pm) but it was so worth it and I had a great time.
     On a completely different note- I have midterms this week and next... I'm a little worried but I've learned a lot of new ways to study in the last year so hopefully all goes well :)

Conference Weekend :)

     This week was nice in the fact that I finally feel like I have a routine- makes it a little easier to get everything done! I also didn't have any classes on Friday. I was telling my mom that I wasn't going to have any classes because my professors decided to cancel class due to all the students leaving for Utah on Friday (General Conference was this weekend, but more on that later!) My mom's response was, "Only at BYU..." Yep! Only at BYU does half the campus leave for a long weekend because they're going to go listen and be part of a 8 hour long church conference twice a year :)
     It's funny to think that I used to not look forward to conference because it meant having to sit for a long time- well it was a long time in my young mind, but now I look forward to it and have learned how to prepare to get as much out of it as possible. I love having the opportunity to hear from our general authorities and the first presidency. One of my favorite talks (I have many) this weekend was the one given the Sunday Morning session by Henry B. Eyring. For those that haven't heard his talk, he talked about happiness and the atonement. I find it so comforting that because of the atonement our Savior knows how to succor each one of us in our trials and that he knows what we are going through and loves us unconditionally even when we make mistakes. One point that really stood out to me was when he said that justice cannot be destroyed except God were to cease to be God, because of the need for justice we need the mercy that can be offered to us when we apply the atonement to our lives so we can return to our Heavenly Father.
     On that note, I had the opportunity to go up to the temple twice this week, and I can tell you that I know that it is the Lord's house and that he is pleased when we take the time to attend and perform work for those who have gone before us. I love the calm, sweet spirit that washes over me when I set foot on the grounds, and I am grateful to live within walking distance of a temple. I went up once this week with one of my best friends here on campus. As we entered the temple I realized how grateful I was that we are both worthy to hold a temple recommend and discovered that I have a strong desire to help others become able to obtain a recommend that they might also enter the temple.
     Other than conference and going to the temple, nothing drastically exciting has happened in my life this week, but I wanted to take a moment to share my testimony with anyone reading this and let you all know that I know that Christ lives and that our Heavenly Father sent His son to die for us that we might overcome the natural man and return to live with Him again. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is a true record of ancient prophets and by careful study it will bring people closer to God. I am grateful for the chance to have been brought closer to the spirit this week and for the gift of personal revelation.

Another brief summary of a crazy week

This past week was really long, but was so great! On Wednesday morning I went to the temple with Amanda. Lynsie, and Jordan which was a great experience. I had planned to use my free time on Thursday afternoons to walk up to the temple, but going with friends makes the trip that much more special.
My friend Laurel had her birthday on Friday, and celebrated it on Saturday- so after the General Relief Society broadcast I went over to her apartment where we played some games, watched some crazy YouTube videos and of course ate cake and ice cream (it was her birthday after all!) 
The third season of Once Upon a Time aired last night- and I'm excited to start watching it again! I finally finished the second season, so hopefully I don't fall behind again! Granted there are way better ways to spend my time than watching it (like watching Star Trek! jk although my sister reminded me last night to watch it.)
My calling in my ward this semester is the Relief Society Music Director. I didn't expect to get called to a calling that I got to serve in once already, but I'm so excited- I love that calling and am thrilled to be called to it again.
This last week I also found a way to solve my problem with not being able to keep track of what class assigned what- it's been a bit of a problem this semester because my professors don't put everything on I-Learn and I'm more dependent on that site than I care to admit.  But I got a dry-erase sheet and made a chart consisting of classes and than the projects and homework assignments for it, so in the morning I can look at it and see quickly how many assignments I need to turn in and what I need to work on during the day- it's been working pretty well so far!
Every Tuesday we have a devotional, generally by someone that's employed here at the school or from the quorum of the 70, but last week Elder Christofferson came to speak to us! It was amazing to be in the same room as him and to listen to the words that he felt he needed to share with us.
Devotional happened at the perfect time too, I was right in the middle of trying to deal with my computer and I needed a chance to take a break and refocus my thoughts on what really matters. My computer decided to stop working while I was using it and so I restarted it. But then I couldn't log back on, and it was just downhill from there- next you couldn't even power it on. To keep the story short, about 3 hours later (not including the hour break for devotional) I was finally able to log on to my computer and we came to the conclusion that google chrome had become corrupted while I was using it- which really screwed everything up! Needless to say, I no longer use google chrome!
I'm looking forward to listening to General Conference this weekend, and I'm hoping to be receptive enough to hear what I need to :)

1st week=success!

     So I just finished my first week as a sophomore up here at school! I've been contemplating how to keep everyone back at home up to date with what I've been doing (as college is so much fun and I just want to share it all with people!) I thought about doing super long status updates on Facebook, but decided against that- I don't know about anyone else but I often just scroll through Facebook without paying to much attention to anything that's super long. So then I thought about e-mails, but I don't have a lot of people's e-mails (thank you to social media.) So I decided on a blog, and hopefully I don't fail to miserably at it!

     Anyways, my first week back up here! I love being able to attend a university so much I don't think I can describe it! I moved again this semester to a different apartment complex, and I'm really happy about where I ended up this time. I have 5 wonderful roommates, and I'm not to far from campus. 

     I have 15 credits: Microbiology, Bakery, Religion, Women's Health, and Advanced Critical Thinking and Writing. I love them all, but Microbiology and Bakery are already proving to be the classes that will be the most difficult. My bakery class is more memorization of the chemistry/science of baking then actual baking- but we still get to make stuff! This week we got to make unleavened bread- it wasn't to bad but it wasn't all that great either. 

     On a completely different note, my window looks out over a round-a-bout and all week I'd been amazed that no one had gotten in a wreck cause people keep cutting other cars off to get to the exit they need but are in the wrong lane for. On Friday, Sadie and I were sitting in our room doing homework when we heard this loud squeal and followed by a sound I don't even know how to describe. From what we could tell it looked like the person entering the round-a-bout failed to yield the person driving the circle, but no one was injured which is good. 

     Basically this week was just intros to classes, so nothing to overwhelming yet, so I've had a lot of time to get to know my roommates better and spend time with friends from past semesters. :)