MustacheBoy

For a long time I've been meaning to fix the link to MustacheBoy's blog. I finally went to do it, but when I checked the link I found that it's already correct. I don't really know what else to do about it, so I think I might just post the URL next to his name. His blog is quite entertaining so I recommend you all go visit him.

That is all. :)

Things

I went to Arizona last week. My brother goes to law school at ASU and Arnold's family lives out there so we spent Thanksgiving in 80 degree weather. It was a nice change, but I missed Jacob a lot. We went to the zoo on Wednesday, and Thursday was all right. Probably the worst Thanksgiving I've ever had, but it was all right. I've just never had it away from home before and it didn't quite have the right feeling. *Shrug.* The food was pretty good though so I guess it's all right. Oh, and we got to meet my brother's girlfriend. We all liked her.

Friday was my favorite day. After Toaf (my older brother) showed us around ASU, Pink Drink picked me up and we went to lunch. Pink Drink is one of about three non-LDS people from high school that I continue to regularly contact. She goes to ASU so I got to see her. We had a delightful time at lunch and she told me some fun stories about getting drunk. She's on the lookout for a nice man to date, but she says the guys in Arizona only want one thing, and that's one thing she won't do. I was proud of her. Haha.

We went shopping after lunch, and although I usually prefer to shop for clothes by myself, I felt very comfortable shopping with her. Probably because she has very little self-control when it comes to shopping, whereas I have too much. She's also one of my ditsy-er friends which made it a lot of fun. I got to go see her family too (I absolutely adore her mother) so it was a fun day.

Saturday I got up early to fly home. Jacob picked me up from the airport and we went to the mall. We got lunch at Applebee's, then opted to see a movie instead of shopping in the cold. We saw "Across the Universe" which was very artsy and very good. If you like artsy weird movies with amazing music, you would love it. There was some female nudity, which was sort of unnecessary, but there weren't sex scenes or anything and if I remember correctly the swearing was pretty mild. I don't recommend it for everyone, but I do recommend it.

After the movie we headed over to Abravanel Hall to attend the performance of Handel's "Messiah." It was a good kick off for the Christmas season. Also the Utah Symphony used a Baroque orchestra to perform it which was pretty cool. The harpsichord looked really nice.

Sunday was a good day. Church was nice, then I went to my grandparents' house for dinner. My aunt Shauna and some of her family were there, in addition to the regulars (Aunt Shelly and her family, me, Jacob, and my grandparents). Jacob fits in nicely, which is great.

That night I had a rehearsal, but since our conductor was out of town, Jacob and I had to go to her house in Springville and drive her car with the trailer that holds the bells back to Provo. It was kind of scary, especially when we had to back up, but Jacob performed splendidly and we made it to Provo and back with no damage. I bought Jacob Pudding on the Rice tonight to repay him for driving.

It's been several weeks since I've checked anyone's blog (include Peas' and Jacob's) so I tried to catch up on those today. AtP and I went to Costa Vida for dinner, which is always delightful food and company. I hadn't seen him in a while, so it was nice to talk and laugh with him. I love that he's been patient with me even though I haven't been the greatest friend this semester. I love you AtP.

Pudding on the Rice was quite tasty, and I got my homework done for tomorrow. I still have a ton of stuff to do before next week, but school is almost over. I can't wait for next semester.

Again, sorry for not being around. I IMed one of my friends the other day because I hadn't heard from him in about a month. He seemed really annoyed with me even though he hadn't tried to communicate with me either. I felt bad because I've been busy and I had tried to contact him earlier via Facebook and he hadn't responded.

So if any of you are offended that I haven't really been around, I'm very very sorry. I really do think about all of you often and I have caught up on reading your blogs. I'd love to do lunch with you sometime, just give me a call. AtP and Brady both contacted me today and it was absolutely lovely to hear from them. I would love to hear from more of you.

Thanks for being a part of my life. Love you! Muah.

FHE

I'm at the Clyde building waiting for my group to come do a quick lab with me. I had to leave FHE a little bit early, and I was actually sorry to do so. My "family" is really cool--all of them are nice and even though I've only been to one other FHE this semester I felt really comfortable with them.

One girl was all asking questions about my life and I was sort of surprised at how much she knew. Then I remembered that she's in the RS presidency and I figured that was why. But it she seemed genuinely interested.

We made turkeys out paper. You know, where you trace your hand on paper and cut it out. It was fun. I'm going to give mine to Jacob like I'm a five-year-old.

I was the first to leave. Everyone thanked me for coming and encouraged me to try to come more often. I think I will.

Visit

Sometimes I get discouraged with visiting teaching. The lesson may be boring, or the teachers may seem like they're just there because they have to be. And I admit, I'm not the best visiting teacher. Sometimes it just seems like a big hassle.

And then there's Tricia. I have never had a visiting teacher like her. She was my VT during spring semester, and now that she's RS president, she made sure that she was my VT again.

She's one of those girls that I just clicked with immediately. I thought it was kind of funny actually, that I would click with someone like her--she's blonde, bubbly, social, very girly, sometimes ditsy--a combination of qualities that would normally annoy.

But she's different. We can carry on a conversation for a great length of time. She dishes out compliments like there's no tomorrow, but it's never fake. She really means her compliments. I also can tell that she greatly enjoys visiting me. She pays attention to my life, checks up on me, insisted on meeting Jacob... And I know she prays for me.

I asked her to say the opening prayer tonight. I was incredibly grateful for the prayer she offered in my behalf, asking the Lord to help me, thanking God for my blessings, and thanking him for blessing her life and the lives of others through me. Some of the things she said in the prayer were things I hadn't specifically told her. And when someone loves you enough that she'll listen to the promptings of the Spirit and pray sincerely for you...well...that's just amazing.

She always leaves me with a hug and an "I love you." I wave good-bye, suddenly wanting to be a better person and thinking that she'll never know the gift she has or how she has made my life a little sweeter just by being in it.

Apologies?

So it's been a really long time.

Okay before I continue I just want to say that every character I type extends the "save now" button underneath this window... It just stopped. Too bad. It would have been cool to see it take over the entire screen.

But yeah. It's been a while. I didn't die. I've just had a lot on my plate this semester. Mostly school. Academically, I have never had to work so hard in my life. It was probably a mistake to take two computer classes. Between writing Java programs, doing mega confusing worksheets, spending 4-12 hours a week in a lab, and studying for tests, I have tried to keep up in my other three classes, with a half-credit class on the side. And I was sick this weekend.

I'm really looking forward to next semester. Mostly because I have a pretty nice schedule, and because I'm going to be taking a conducting class and a carillon class. I figure I'll never play in a bell tower again, but it will be cool to say I've done it. Plus it satisfies a requirement for my minor...

Hopefully next semester I'll be able to hang out with you more. No guarantees (I am taking a physics class and a computer class, and I'm trying to get a job), but I'll try to be less anti-social than I was this semester.

Life is really great though. I'm really very happy. Sometimes school is overwhelming (this week, cough cough) but it doesn't get me down. My roommates are fantastically hilarious and easy to live with, my friends are amazing, Jacob is amazing, and next week I get to see my family (and maybe play Guitar Hero III).

So I'm sorry if I've been unavailable, or if I haven't talked to you in a while or whatever. Don't take it personally.