Thursday, April 14, 2011

Success.

20 more days until I am done with SUU (that's only 15 more days of classes!). I am very excited! However, I will be honest, I was getting a little worried about my school work recently. I want to have good grades, and I was afraid that things were slipping just a tad.

Then, this week I got some grades back!

100% on my math test! In my last blog post I was saying how badly I wanted to get a 100% and I did it! Oh Boy!

100% on my Self Portrait assignment AND she wrote such a sweet note! "Great Job! Could you include this image on your final project CD...I would like to yous it as great student work to show next semester" Yay!

AND 100% on my photography quiz!
My math grades and photography grades are solid, along with my Anthropology. My French class I will probably get a B in, unless I get A's on my next few things. Nutrition has been jumping around the A- B+ range. Neither of which is terrible. At this point, I think it's unrealistic to get my nutrition up to a solid A, but hopefully with my last two tests and assignments I can climb up a couple percentage points. Currently, my GPA is just a wee bit higher than last semester (with more credits, woohoo!). If I can get that Nutrition up to an A- I will be a whole tenth of a point higher than last time!

I had a lot of really nice classes this semester that I have really enjoyed. I have been lucky to be able to get such great teachers, but also I am really happy that I had the opportunity to choose the sorts of classes that I wanted to take that were pretty easy. This will probably be my last semester of having such an easy course load. I will miss it, but I really think I am going in the right direction for what I want to do.

Enough of that school stuff! Today was really fun because we went to the park for an end of the year church bbq! We played around on the playground, ate some junk food (and got totally stuffed! Yikes!), and played a game of volleyball with kids from the ward. Maryna and I sucked TERRIBLY. I have never liked volleyball, but somehow it was fun.

In sort of sad news, I have recently noticed a lot of scratches on my cell phone screen! There are lots of tiny ones, and a few pretty major ones. I HATE IT. I love my phone so much, I just want it to be perfect! I don't really know how all the scratches got there. I try to be careful... So anyways, I was trying different home techniques to help the scratches go away. Generally the idea behind these is that you use something mildly abrasive (some even suggest really fine sandpaper) and kinda rub down the scratches. The two I tried were toothpaste and peanut butter. The toothpaste didn't seem to work at all. People say that it usually takes a series of times where you are rubbing for about 30 minutes to make it go away. I probably rubbed for about 30 minutes and I didn't notice ANY change. Perhaps my toothpaste isn't as abrasive as other people's. Peanut butter actually went a lot better. I noticed changes in how it looked, but also how the screen felt. After cleaning the screen and everything, I still can't feel any bumpiness where the scratches are. I think I will try the peanut butter again and see if I notice more changes.

I have also read online that they make scratch removers for LCD tv's and CD's and such, and those can all work really well on phones. If anyone has anything that they have tried, let me know!

Monday, April 11, 2011

It's a Good Day!

How can you have a bad day when you start it off with this?
I know, it is a few minutes long, but it goes by quickly and has a very nice message!

I love the line that advices us to "embrace each day with an enthusiastic welcome...no matter how it looks".

This morning, I accidentally slept passed my alarm! This hasn't happened all school year long so it was really weird for me. I was awoken at 9:15 (15 minutes after my first class starts) by a text message from one of my friends in French class asking if I was coming to class. In my head I was like "pfft, no. Too late now!" but then all of a sudden, I jumped to my feet remembering I had my french presentation today! I was in a whirlwind, with clothes, brushes, make up, hairspray, all flyin' around for about 5 minutes before I got out the door. Thankfully, I made it to class and the presentation went well! I was proud of myself though, because waking up like that was not fun, but I didn't let it bring me down!



Math class was as fun as can be when you are learning about probability. My math class really hasn't challanged me that much, but it is always good to have a class where you feel smart! We haven't recieved our most recent tests yet, but hopefully tomorrow! I am dying to have a 100%. I knew that chapter backwards and forwards! Ah well, my worst grade in that class as of yet is a 90, and all my others have been high 90s. I will get an A regardless.



In my Anthropology class, she handed back a whole bunch of homework assignments, and I will just tell you now, I got 100% on every assignment! That is pretty darn good! My teacher always starts presentation sheets (where the student chooses a date to present) in the front of the classroom, and me and my friends sit in the back. My buddy asked if she could start it in the back this time, and one of the kids from the front said "You know, you learn better when you sit in the front. She is just rewarding us." I told him we should compare grades :P



Didn't have photo today which was nice. I love having 2hrs for lunch! With my extra time, I steamed the left over broccoli from last night and toasted a bagel. It was pretty good broccoli! I bought a different brand of bagles than a normally do (because walmart was out) so it was different, but not terrible.


Nutrition was fun. We talked about sports nutrition, specifically staying hydrated and different intensities to work out at. It really inspired me to get my booty over to the gym, (I haven't been good about that lately), but I was a little too exhausted to change into gym clothes, go to the gym, come back, shower...so I just took a nice little walk instead. I should really take advantage of the gym, but maybe when I have a better night's rest behind me! :/
Right after nutrition I went to French Table (french discussion group). Today wasn't as fun as the other days, but it was still great! I haven't been studying french as much as I should so some tenses don't come as easily as I'd like them too. The other thing I have to remember is many of these people have studied in france and had a lot more exposure. Unfortunately, French doesn't count towards my major, but I want to continue to take classes (even after I graduate) so I can go to france someday...*sigh*


Right after French Table, I called my mom to talk to her about my dress I got to wear for Hillary's wedding! My older sister is getting married in July and has told the girls to wear pink dresses (because her colors are pink and brown). The dress I ordered just came in the mail today! It is so cute and it was such a steal! I am not sure if I am allowed to post it so I will just keep it a secret for now :P
Also in the mail today, I got a letter from Eric! It's pretty darn great. With only 24 days until I am done at SUU, there probably won't be many more letters in my future! It makes me sad :(


That was my day! I had a lot of fun. It has been nice weather, and my roomie is still gone so I have had the bedroom all to myself! Though I can't really spread out, it is fun to just be able to do my own thing. I know, I am so selfish!




à bientôt!


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Good Times

Life is good!

My Aunt Marilyn sent me this beautiful necklace! It is in a really snazzy case too! I definitely need to send her a thank you note back!
A while ago in the mail, Hillary sent me the cutest "genius" fridge magnets for my birthday! I was SO excited! We always had them growing up, but now I have words of my very own! Oh boy!
Also in the mail (I know, I have been a happy girl lately) I got my new pair of jeans! They were on sale from JCPenny, but I bought them to replace my other jeans that got a big whole in the tush! This is a picture of one of the back pockets!
Today was Temple Tuesday! Me and my two cute little friends went down to Saint George today! We didn't take pictures, but I assure you, I went! While I was there, the same old guy from last time asked me if I ever found out about his old girlfriend, Melva Jean Pulsipher! I told him that I had asked around a little but hadn't found much. He told me he really wanted to know how she was doing so I should try to find her and sit down and chat with her :P He was such a cutie!!!


He also told me that when they were dating, they would always go places on his motorcycle. And he said everytime he went around a corner she got scared and hugged him really tight. He said after the first time, all he did was go around corners :P I thought it was cute, however I didn't know that it was temple appropriate :P

After I got home I was determined to find this little lady and I found out that she had actually died in 2007! He is for sure going to ask me next time so I am trying to find some stories to tell him or something, but I haven't had much luck yet :O
I also recently finished my self portrait, and today I finished the essay that goes along with it. This had really been stressing me out so now that it is done I feel so much better!
In other news:
  • My French class and Math class were both cancelled for tomorrow so that means I get to sleep in!
  • I have a test in math on thursday and I am hosting another study group on Wednesday! I don't really need any help on this section, but when I have to teach it to the other kids it really gets drilled into my head!
  • Institute was really great today! I have really been loving it and I am so sad to think that the class will be over in a few weeks! It's enough to make ya just cry!
  • Book of Mormon if 40 days is going well! All weekend I was a few chapters behind and last night I kicked it in gear and caught up. It's day 10 today, I am 1/4 way through! Tonights assignment is Jacob 6-7, Enos, Jarom, Omni. Let's get it done!
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Saturday, April 2, 2011

How to Get Hot Buns for General Conference Weekend:

Recently, I have really been wanting to make some homemade dinner rolls! What better project to do while enjoying the wonderful talks during LDS General Conference?! I used a beginners recipe and they turned out great!

Ingredients:

Yeild 24 Rolls

Combine water and yeast in lg bowl; let stand for 5 minutes.

With wooden spoon, stir in butter, sugar, eggs and salt.

Add flour, 1 cup at a time and beat in as much as you can.
(you will probably be able to use all the flour) Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days.

Be sure to clean your mess so your roommates don't get mad! :)

Turn dough out onto floured surface.

Divide into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a smooth ball

Place in rows in prepared (greased 13x9) pan and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 375 and bake for 17 minutes or until golden brown
Violà!
 I ended up letting my rolls rise in the pan for about 2 hours. It was tempting to put them in earlier, but I wanted to make sure they were doubled in size so it would turn out right. If I were to do it again, I would only add 4 cups flour. The dough was a little stiff and hard to roll into balls, and they do get extra flour when you put the dough on the floured surface.

These puppies turned out so good. I will definitely make them again. The top of the roll is very flakey, and the inside is light and fluffly. YUM!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Playing Catch-Up

I have had the most wonderful past few weeks! I should have posted more frequently but I was just so busy! Here is a short synopsis of my March!

March 10th:
  • It's my 19th Birthday!
My family sent me Pixar's movie "UP" and lots of sweet treats in the mail! I LOVE this movie. It really is super sad, but very cute too! It was so nice of them to send it to me!
March 11th:
  • I come home for Spring Break!
    • I flew SW Airlines from Vegas to San Jose, and then San Jose to Seattle. My flight from San Jose was delayed about an hour and a half, but by the time I was back in Seattle I forgot all about how bummed I was!

Spring Break (March 12- March 19th):

  • I had so much fun!
    Eric got tickets to a hockey game for my birthday!
We were in the third row from the front! Awesome!

My Mom took me shopping! We bought a couple really cute shirts and this nice jacket from Old Navy!

Went to see the Adjustment Bureau with Eric! It is SUCH a great movie, I really enjoyed it! Currently Eric is writing a paper on it for his english class, so I am guessing he liked it too! :P
Eric and I at the Mac Store after going to the Cheesecake Factory for a nice little date!

  • During the break, my family and I went to go visit my Grandma at her apartment in Kent. She hadn't been doing so well- turned out she had a colapsed lung and a staph infection over the weekend! Due to the wonders of modern medicine, she came home from the hospital just fine! By the time I saw her on Thursday, she was the lively, sweet little Grandma I knew her to be!

  • Before I visited my Grandma, I also dragged my boyfriend to IKEA with me! We had lots of fun! Eric was excited because the daily meal special for that day was ribs. I was excited because I got to look at all the house stuff! Win Win :)

Friday night, Eric's parents took us out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse! Can I just say how AMAZING this place was?! The food was delicious and all the staff was very kind. A big thank you to the Myrvold's for giving us such a great experience!
After taking us out, Eric's Dad made everyone Crème Brûlée! It was soooo good! A little birdy told me he woke up at 6am just to make it for us! How sweet!
Post-Spring Break:
  • It was really hard to come back to school after such a perfect 8 day break! However, my friends and I have managed to have some great times!
Two of my roommates and I eating indian food at the Indian Holi Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork, UT

Another roommate and I taking pics with some pretty hot statues on campus!

A friend from down the hall, a roomie, and I posing for a picture at the Saint George Temple! We've decided to have "Temple Tuesday" where we go down and do temple work each week! Want to learn more about what we are doing? Read this article!
All of the roommates (Minus ONE who we all missed very much) having fun at Discovery Park!

Last but not least!!! Two of my LDS roommates and I are reading the Book of Mormon in 40 days! It is a challange, but really fun as well. The schedule is actually fairly easy! If you want to know more about the Book of Mormon, read this explaination

 March was such a great month! Now we only have 34 days left until school is out!