Happy Holidays

As of yesterday, it is now acceptable to refer to this time of year as the holidays. It is now perfectly ok to listen to as much Christmas music as desired. Everything has its own countdown once Thanksgiving comes and goes. Countdowns until the end of semester ( 20 days), countdowns until Christmas and countdowns until the new year begins. There is something about this time of year that is just so alluring to me. Everything takes on its own energy that is contagious. I love everything about the holidays, minus the ice and snow. Last night I was mentally putting this blog together and I think I pinpointed why I love this time of year so much. Everyone comes together. School, work, and busy schedules can't tear large families apart when it's time for Christmas. It's almost as if nothing is quite as important once everybody gets together to spend the greatest time of the year together. The unfortunate part though, time flies by way too quickly these days. Before we know it, the holiday season will be over. Christmas trees are thrown away and lights and decorations find their place back in a box in the corner of the garage, waiting until their few months of glory next year. It's sad really. Oh well, the holiday season for me has just begun. It's the day after Thanksgiving and I have approximately 40 days to delight in all the great times the holidays bring. It will be my first Christmas as a college student, and I can't wait. These 20 days will pass quickly I'm sure.

You know you go to BYU Idaho when your Relief Society activity for the week is trying on wedding rings at one of the innumerable jewelry stores located in the Rexburg area. I mean, I know that everyone here is trying to get us married off as soon as possible, but must they be so forceful? Maybe I stand alone in the " Not-even-remotely-ready-to-even-think-about-marriage" category, but I just find the emphasis on early marriage a little odd. Why can't we just wait? Though I admit, Margot is ready to be married to her missionary in Sweden. I must not be on that level yet or something. Anyway, when and to whom I marry will be right for me. Words cannot express how glad I am that my week is over. I get to go home in less than a week for ten whole days. New Moon comes out in eight, and my roommates and I have watched Twilight in our beds no less than four times this week already. I can't wait. This next few weeks is going to fly by. Soon I'll be back in Vegas for a glorious four months.

Hasty Aggregation

I need to discipline myself into going to bed before midnight on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesday and Thursday mornings I have an 8 AM class that I am always so tired for. Last night I was up in fright though, because a spider was found directly above where I sleep. I stayed awake last night fretting that the spider had laid eggs in my pillow or one of my blankets, and that it would burst to release billions of spider babies all over me. Luckily for me, this unfortunate mishap never came to pass. Courtney and I are presently sitting at our kitchen table (naming it as such is courteous. It is identical to those fake wood tables that we all used in elementary school) eating wild berry Skittles, and having our bi-weekly deep conversation. We talk about everything from medical conditions to getting married to the Holocaust. I look forward to our long talks before I have Book of Mormon and she ventures off the Water Aerobics. I'm so proud of Margot because her texture sphere was one of the best in her class and it got displayed in the glass case in the Clarke building. It's a balmy 51 degrees today, and the wind almost killed me while I was walking out of American Foundations. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to go to school at BYU Hawaii instead of BYU Siberia. Even if I wanted to find out, I could not do so until my sophomore year. I get to fly home for Thanksgiving in nine days. I'll have ten days of bliss and no class. I can't wait to play baseball, and see New Moon (which comes out in ten days). I am so ready to be back. I realize how much of a haphazard mess this post is, but I have lots of things on the brain.

This weekend I had the privilege of being able to fly home to see my family for my cousin's wedding. It has been great to catch up, and I don't want to fly back to Rexburg tomorrow... but I'm afraid I have to. I know that I act like the independent eldest child that doesn't need her family and really doesn't miss everything about being home, but I assure all of those reading this that it is all an act. I do miss my family, my bed (which really isn't mine anymore anyway), having space to myself, and all those other things I used to take for granted when life in high school sucked because I was the oppressed teenager without any freedom. Now all I want is rules and restrictions. I miss having someone to tell me what classes I need to be taking, to remind me of the things I forget and to talk me out of staying up past two at least five nights a week. I've learned lately that I can drive ten hours straight and be totally fine, and also that a good way for me to relieve my anxieties is by finding a good person whose ear I can talk off. I've also realized that I text my father more than I text or talk to anybody else, but he and I have always been close.

I think I've done some serious growing up in the last few months. Life for me is finally starting to begin and I am so excited to take hold and see where it leads. Yes, I do miss high school where things were so predictable and simple, but I also enjoy the complication that comes with being out on my own. Who knew that groceries didn't just magically appear in the fridge? I want to travel, I want to meet tons of new people in new places, but I mostly want to make the most out of life right now because these are supposed to be the best years of it. The end is never certain, but I don't worry about such things because I love the ride. 12 days till I'm home again.

Good Day

Things I love today:
-Sunny weather
-65 degrees
-short sleeves
-Tuscany
-clear skies
-the promise of a flight home tomorrow
-packages in the mail
-Kart's straightener
-looking forward to Spring semester
-Andrew's texting
-clean laundry
- Margot's driving

Today has been so great. Nothing bad could possibly happen. Las Vegas, I'll be home to you in a mere day. Don't go and have a drastic weather change on me. This weather has put me in such a good mood.

I miss a lot of things about living in Vegas, that can be expected. Rexburg has provided quite the culture shock for me. It's taken me a really long time to realize how great I have it and how wonderful my family is, but now I can see perfectly. I can hardly wait for the monthly (and surprise) visits that I make home. I'm so lucky that I get to go home this weekend and see everyone, family and friends. As much as I miss home, college has introduced me to a few new things that I'm sure I'll miss once I'm done with the semester.

1. Scary movie nights. Margot, Courtney and I have somehow figured out a way to squeeze three 18-year-old girls onto a twin bed and watch frightening films before attempting to sleep. Youtube is the best. I'll miss having people's hands to hold and screams to ring out along with my own.

2. Almost daily trips to Horkley's. More fondly known as "Whore, please" around the apartment due Margot's hearing impairment. This gas station sells 42 oz fountain drinks for 30 cents and serves as a common place to visit to rid ourselves of caffeine withdrawl headaches.

3. Being "social." We always make plans to go out and meet new people, but we more often than not end up at the gym and watching a movie on someone's laptop instead. Something about the cold weather makes none of us want to venture outside the comfort of the apartment. It's ok though, because people like to come over and visit from time to time.

4. Skype conversations. I believe Skype is one of the coolest inventions in the world, and once I'm home with the rest of my friends and my immediate family, I won't be able to Skype those dear to me living in Hawaii, Florida, Vegas etc. I think we'll all be home by then. Talking in person just doesn't compare.

Now to my list of things I won't miss at all. This blog wouldn't be accurate if I didn't incorporate a little sarcasm.

1. My HORRENDOUS bed. I can't breathe in deeply without making it creak and waking up Sara. A fear I've had since day one is that my bed will crash one night without warning onto my desk below where my MacBook sits. I pray this night never comes to pass.

2. Cold. Like I've reiterated many times before, it is so cold in Idaho. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, mainly because I'd never experienced anything like it. Slipping on ice is also another fear of mine, especially because the upper class students tell me that the heated sidewalks are a myth. Great.

3. Early morning classes. For those that know me well, I have never been and never will be a morning person. For some reason while I was registering for classes for this semester, I shot myself in the foot by signing up for an 8 AM American Foundations class. Never again. The other reason being that this class is AP Government on steroids. Again, those that know me well can attest that any kind of governmental course isn't my strong suit.

I shouldn't say that I hate Rexburg, because I really don't. I just have a hard time adjusting to the weather. I can't wait to call my dad the first time I have to drive in the snow for real. We'll both be having panic attacks. Of this I am absolutely positive.

Au Contraire

Since moving up to college, there are a few things I have noticed that are quite contrary to popular belief.

1. Idaho is not peaceful and quiet. I figured moving here would be a nice relaxing experience, especially coming from somewhere so alive and noisy as Vegas. I could not have been more wrong. Between the screaming banshees outside and the wild pack of wildebeest that seem to always be square dancing upstairs, it is nearly impossible to sleep. Though they always are loud and out of control, the occasional rave that happens on the far end of the dorms is always entertaining to watch. The screaming banshees also hold a great deal of my interest, only because I am dumbfounded that one can have so much energy so late at night, especially with a schedule like ours. One of my favorite banshee moments happened last night, while I was sitting in my room and heard someone shriek "FREE THE RUSSIANS!" at the top of their lungs.

2. Mondays are great. I went from deploring this day in high school to looking forward to it in college. Why? This is simply because my classes do not begin until 12:45 on Mondays, therefore making it so that I have adequate time to sleep in. My sleep this morning was unfortunately prematurely interrupted when I woke up at about 7 AM to find myself baking in my bed. This was a result of my electric blanket magically turning itself on high at some point during the night. This happens more than you'd think actually.

3. My professors do not know as much as I had hoped. If I had 10 cents for all the times that I have heard one of them utter the phrase "I have no idea" I would easily be able to pay for one of my textbooks in dimes. I have no sympathy either, considering that these lovely men and women are supposed to be experts in their subjects.

Like the nicknames that I posted earlier, I'm sure more "Au Contraire's" will come to me over the course of my time here. Similarly to the nicknames, these discoveries will also be posted.

Academics?

I'm glad that college lets me be creative and witty in every way except for in my classes. The evidence of this can be seen in the pattern of my slipping grades and late nights. I have the mind to kill anyone in a battle of words, but once I sit down to write a serious paper, my mind goes blank. I digress. My roommates and I have taken up the politically incorrect habit of making up nicknames for those whose names we can't seem to recollect. These nicknames more often than not stick once we get to know said people. These are just a few of my favorite examples:

Japan Girl: A girl that lives next door to us, we know that her name is Rebecca and address her as such to her face, but behind the back we call her Japan Girl. Of course she doesn't look Japanese at all, but for some reason this name is a hard one to shake. I think we all just can't wrap our fingers around the idea that someone from Japan doesn't look like it.

Ursula: We bequeathed our over-zealous Relief Society president with this one. We know her name too, but Ursula fits. She acts nothing like the evil queen from The Little Mermaid, but we all have noticed a slight resemblance.

Ethel: Known as "Eth" around our apartment and behind closed doors. Elliot Seibold may or may not be my college crush. Something about this 26 or so year old is just so enticing to me. I'm not even sure how this nickname was started, but part of me wants to say that it was because Margot thought his name was Ethel for the longest time. What can I say? I have a thing for glasses and eloquence.

Rosie O'Donnel: Just an annoying sophomore that lives in our dorm and talks way too loud so that the entire world can hear the conversation. She doesn't even sound like Rosie, and yet we all see it. We found out today that her name is reality is Aubrey. I can't make myself call her by her birth name.

Lucky Charms: Japan Girl's BFF. She told everyone within a 2 mile radius on the first day of college that her favorite thing to do is eat. The next day, I venture out of our apartment to find her screaming over the phone to her mother about one of her roommates eating her Lucky Charms. Needless to say she was infuriated. This discovery sparked my invention of the nickname "Lucky Charms" because her favorite pass time was hindered by her absence of cereal and I was appalled that someone would steal something so precious from someone else.

Joaquin Pheonix: No, he looks nothing like the hare-lipped movie star, and acts nothing like him either. I wouldn't know though, considering that he and I have exchanged not one word. Nevertheless, he was in a quite steamy relationship with the previously mentioned Rosie O'Donnel. This said relationship must have ended poorly because Rosie and Joaquin are no longer speaking or scratching one another's backs in church. Oh College.

Steve Kimple: We refer to him fondly as "Mr Acne", a name that was stolen by Margot's youngest brother, Drew. He is nothing but an overly- passionate PE teacher that thinks he's cool because he teaches college weight training. He permanently stalks us during our nightly gym visits, and he and Margot always acknowledge one another with the casual nod. He's a creep, but I know that Courtney has a secret wish to twirl his luscious blonde mustache.

The Midget: I save this one for last because I realize it is the most horrible and politically unacceptable. We do, in fact, have a midget living a few doors down from us. We didn't get the privilege of learning her name until much later into this semester. ( I chalk this up to my family's inordinate midget fear.) She is a sweet girl though, always willing and happy to be social. Her real name is Mikayla.

My roommates and I are mean I think. Sometimes we have long conversations about the previously mentioned people. Oh well, that's what college is for. Finding yourself, right? More nicknames are sure to surface in the near future. Naturally, they will appear on my blog.