This is intense!

I have a conducting class that is on wednesday nights from 7-8:50. It's very precise but I enjoy it a lot. But the intense part is that... bum bum bum... we started conducting with two hands yesterday! The right controls tempo and the left does dynamics. If only I could get that left hand to cooperate...

My blessings

So, I don't know why today was such a good day. I was so thankful for the simple things. Here are just a few:

My parents

My siblings

My room mates

My tennis shoes

The sound of leaves crinkling

People who tell awesome stories

Little kids, and their laughter

Fishes

Quotes 

Cozy apartments

School (Sometimes)

Music

Teachers who care

Facebook :)

Horses

Sunsets

Everything that Heavenly Father gave me!

I hope everyone realizes how many things they have to be thankful for! 

One last post... today

So, we had two very important speakers come to BYU. Elaine S. Dalton, who is the general Young Women's President, and President Monson. They both did such an amazing job. Sister Dalton spoke about a return to virtue and moral purity, and President Monson spoke about his personal relationships and the teachings of past Prophets. It was really touching and uplifting.

Thomas S. Monson

Elaine S. Dalton

.

Abigail Johnson

My cousin-in-law, Susie, had a baby the other day and so I skipped class in order to go visit her in the hospital. Abigail is cute and very sleepy! Susie was cute also, she's going to be a good little mama. 

Me and Abigail

Lena and Abigail

Ro-de-o

Once again Lena and Scott saved me from the boredom that I was imposing on myself. When they called saturday night and invited me to the Utah State Fair was VERY excited. I don't remember ever going to the state fair in Georgia, so it was pretty awesome. They had a lot of animals, but I think the best part was the rodeo. There were a lot of people there, and all the compeititors were SO good. I was so impressed. 

Barrel Racing!!! Lena and Scott are going to have a little girl someday who barrel races with cute little braided pigtails.

These cowboys were really cool. I mean they're cowboys, what else can I say? 

To the rescue! 

Bull riding was the scariest part. At one point, these guy wasn't moving and the paramedics had to come out and check on him, but he turned out okay. There were a lot of impressive rides. 

Taylor Swift?

Right before I flew out to Utah, we were staying in a hotel near Atlanta while the boys went to a Shawn Hannity Freedom Concert. When we left to go to airport, we noticed a giant tour bus with Taylor Swift across the side. It was pretty awesome to think that Taylor Swift might have been in the same hotel as us. We thought about trying to track her down, but then thought that sounded a little creeper style. 

My new home

Yes. I haven't posted anything in a long time. But, I am finally taking time out of my not so busy saturday to show you a little about my new life. 

I moved in first thing on a monday, a week before school started. Luckily I had a lot of time to unpack my stuff, because it looked slightly like a tornado zone. I spent the first week twiddling my thumbs, anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new school year. I found that cleaning, unpacking and reading are quite good distractions.

Saturday, we had a welcome breakfast from alpine court. It was slightly early for most people, but if you're reading this you all ready know that I thrive on early mornings. Going from left to right: Nicole is from New York/ Philippines, Becca is from Mesa, Crystal is from California and her cousin Jaci.  

I'm feeling old

Wow has life been crazy! Youth conference began yesterday and I am so tired! Oh well, the life of being home during the summer... I'll take it for the time with my family. 

Let's see... not much has been going on. I've been teaching piano and horseback-riding lessons. I really love both of them and am enjoying the opportunity to teach what I love to young students. I'm taking a nutrition class online and enjoying it, mostly. I think I'll be happy to be back in school, if only because it'll add a little structure back into my life. 

The reason I say I'm feeling old is because all of little beehives are suddenly turning into miamaids and I'm now nineteen years old. Many of my friends are leaving on their missions and it's crazy trying to remember where they will all go. I know that I'm not old, but hey, when your friends are getting married, it suddenly feels that way. 

We went out last night

Last night as I began preparing myself for bed, after a slightly more exhausting day than expected, I heard voices in the front room. Having been alone just minutes before, and knowing that my room mates were all gone, I became a wee bit panicked. Was someone breaking in? To my relief, I heard Keri's loud hollar of, "Daily, are you here?"When I popped my head around the corner, they invited me to come grab Brick Oven and they would then head to their place.

After a long day of studying and practicing, that sounded delightful! We left Keri's car at the Elms and walked to brick oven to pick up the pizza. It looked stormy on the way there, and we all commented on what a beautiful night it was feeling like. Keri ran back to get the car, because of a slight drizzle, and a desire not to get the pizzas wet. As she was gone there was a loud clap of thunder and the skies opened up with a fury. Keri returned soaked to the bone, but of course laughing.

We drove to their apartment, ate pizzas and talked. Some of their friends were there from the ward and it was great to see they were enjoying this one as much as they had 101st. Much to our dismay, one of their ward members popped his head inside our open door and asked, "Does Ashley have a red jeep, I think someone just hit it." Ashley loves that car and takes great care of it. After her return of the inspection, and just a slight hint of sadness, Ashley was in good spirits. 

We did prayer together, and headed home. Tuesday I will go to a Temple open house with them and be privileged to enjoy their antics once more. Until then, I will rely on my new room mates, who are just as hilarious and make my little apartment seem more like living with sisters than room mates, but then again, as I always tell Kristal, "We're not friends just room mates." Of course, as sisters do, we joke like that often. 

Sleep over!

The other relief society invited us to come join them at the Crosby's house for their sleepover. The Crosby's have a beautiful house... and horses.... which I didn't think to get any pictures of. Anyways, we spent a little time outside, and then the real fun began. Jamie had brought tons of makeup. I let her doll me up, and am realizing that I really need to use a different color blush than I usually do, because I have to admit, it looked good. I think the funniest part though, was the fact that no one wanted to build a fire, so we just roasted marshmallows over the stove. How fun!

A little shout out to Chelsea... Mac makeup.

What I'll look like in 20 years when my hair actually grows out.

Vanessa all dolled up!

Marshmallow roasting time... inside!

My parents were here!!!!

On the Wednesday before this last one, I went to go watch American Idol at Doyle and Chelsea's apartment. When I showed up, I got a call from my parents asking if they could come watch American Idol with us. I laughed and said, "Sure, jump on a plane." That's when they walked out of the back bedroom. I won't lie, I cried a little. And so the fun began. They came to my bowling class, where I dropped the ball for the first time. We played lots of games included farkel. It comes highly reccommended. 

We spent saturday going to Antelope island and visiting Chris and LaMar. Dad made his french toast that morning. They came to church with me on Sunday and were very good about not embarrassing me. Monday we went and visited the graves of some of my ancestors. We met up with my great-uncles and aunts there. They are a lot of fun to be around. After that, we went and saw the vernal temple and then we went hiking in rock canyon, which was a lot of fun when we hit a very steep hill which we then had to, very slowly, walk down. 

It was great having my parents here and definitely made the next three weeks doable! Thanks so much mom and dad for a great surprise and great weekend!

Lena breaking into the Vernal temple. Isn't it beautiful? I think I have a new favorite!

We had the gang over for watermelon. When I went to take this picture they promptly spat all their seeds at me.

Lena and Dad playing with the tank at smith and edwards. We got there at 5:55 and they closed at six. Who'da thought?

Me and mom

Antelope Island! We didn't see a ton of wildlife, but saw some buffalo off in the distance. It was way pretty though!

Bon fire

Tonight my ward got together and drove to Utah lake so we could have a bonfire and watch a movie. We caravanned with four other cars and Kennedy did a great job keeping up with them and maneuvering through the crazy Provo freeway. When we arrived, we soon discovered that we weren't the only ones with this amazing idea. Once we finally found a spot and got settled we made banana boats and smoreos. It was fun to spend time with friends and to be in the woods on a wonderful spring evening in Utah.

Sarah and Avery show off their beautiful smiles and a delicious looking banana boat.

Smoke must follow beauty, Abby is a cutie!

It was cold, so we all huddled under this blanket. Me, Crystal, Abby and Rick were nice and cozy.

Easter

My first easter away from home and I survived. Whew! It was actually very enjoyable. I color eggs with some friends and made easter basket cupcakes and easter cookies. YUM! I spent some time at my uncle and aunts house for easter dinner with my extended family, which was very fun. 

Flower Cookies
Easter Basket Cupcakes
Sarah with her adorable egg
The whole crew. It was funny how people's personalities really show when you decorate eggs. I wanted it to look pretty but didn't want to take a lot of time, while Morgan was very particular. Interesting.

Keri's B-day

Last semester we celebrated my roommates'  birthday by having a fiesta. It was so fun! She turned twenty, so she's pretty old now. Just kidding! It was a breakfast thing so everyone was still in their pajamas. 

The Birthday Girl Herself! Pretty excited.

Tyler and Bob picking through the candy from the Pinata.

The 5 Browns!

In February the 5 browns came and performed at BYU. For those of you who don't know who they are, they are amazing! :) They are 5 brothers and sisters who all attended Julliard and know perform quintet pieces on the piano. It is so cool to watch them. They played my favorite piece, "18th variation on a theme by Paginni" composed by Rachmoninoff. They are so good, and they are just so expressive! Loved it!

Desirae, Ryan, Me, Melody, Gregory and Deondra 

All done!

I took my last two test today! One was another part of ASL, so I don't know how it turned out. But the other was music and I got an 84. I would have done better, but I was just ready to be done!

And the next grade is...

I got an 87 on my Child development test which means I got an 84 or 83 in the class! Only one more final to go and then I am done with my first year of college. Wow... that is weird.

Quick update during finals

I took my first final yesterday. American Sign Language 101. You have two parts, well three, but two we did yesterday. The first part is recessive, where the instructor signs to you and you have to write it down. The next part is expressive where you have to sign something to the professor. I don't know my grade on the recessive part, but on the expressive final... I got a 27/30 which equates to a 90! Not as well as I thought, but hey... it let's me keep my A in the class that I didn't even think I had. Oh, and more good news... I now have an A in music! So, I'm studying and keeping my fingers crossed for my next final: Child development. 

Nearing the end

Finally! We are at the end of the semester. However, this means a major prep for finals, cleaning checks and goodbyes are upon us. As I look back at this semester, I am even more grateful for the changes I made in my schooling and living  situation. Being close to my brother and sister have made a world of difference. AND, if all goes well with finals, I will pull a B, B+ and an A in my classes. I haven't decided which final I'm most nervous about. It's hard to choose when you only have 3 classes. 

I'm grateful that I'm able to video chat with my parents and that I have been able to see some of the people from my ward back home. I went to Idaho last weekend and with the cold, whipping winds I am grateful to have the majority of my time now spent in a light jacket :).  However, it was wonderful to be able to see my friends and to finish up my piano class.

I'm excited for the next semester and the trip home that will come at it's end. My teachers were amazing, the friends that I've made made have been so nice and my family has been a great support. What a wonderful way for it all to come to an end!

A final decision

Okay, so maybe not final, but pretty dang close. I've been looking at a lot of degrees: elementary education, nutrition, home ec education and even nursing. But after looking at all the classes, I've declared my major as... drum roll... Home economics education (FACS in todays lingo). I'm really excited about the classes. Where else could you take floral design? :) Yes, it might change, but who knows? Maybe I've found my true calling... Hmmmm. Who's to know?

Break the fast!

I have learned to LOVE fast sundays! There are less meetings, meaning more naps, and best of all: Break the fast! This sunday it was so beautiful that we had it outside! Spring is fast approaching, I just hope it sticks around!

On the wall...

Or on the ground?

Ahoy!

We had a really terrific ward pirate party. We did a treasure hunt, which led us to the Wilk, where we had the best party EVER! Everyone was dressed up and it was so much fun!

The boat racing (ours flipped in the first round)

Our wonderful "score" keeper

Me, Jocelynn and Sadie in our best Pirate Garb!

A wonderful discovery

I am a cereal-aholic. I LOVE cereal! Today, while I was downing a glass of milk, I suddenly had a craving for the yummy goodness of fruit loops. When I opened the cabinet, I realized that all the bowls were being preoccupied by a much needed cleaning. As I sat pondering my perdicament, I spied the cup from which I had been drinking from just moments ago. There it was! I grabbed my cereal and poured it into the cup. When I completed my cereal feast, I then preceeded to drink sweet milk. So, if you only have one hand and need to eat some of this:

Then I would reccomend using a cup. That's all.

Piano Blues

No. I haven't taken up Jazz. Although maybe I should. That would be cool! But, no. I just need to complain about the poor state of my piano playing. It's actually been going really well for the past couple of days, but I just got an e-mail from BYU-Idaho. 

In April I have to go back to Idaho and play before the faculty in order to complete one of my classes. This entails me dropping everything I've been working on and picking up a piece that I worked on about a year ago and praying that I can get it ready in time for juries. How terribly exciting, I know.

But if it has to be done, it has to be done. I'm sure in the long run it will help me become a better pianist, but right now I just want to kick something. At least I'm wearing shoes at the moment. 

My roomies: Morgan, Keri and Ashley. Annie must be taking the picture. If you think they're adorable here, think about what they must look like when they aren't dressed up like rednecks! 

Keri and competed against each other for best cow girl. While I won that one, I told her she could be best Hick. She agreed.

What good is a hoedown without chili? Of course there was a contest. There was a lot of good chili! Yummy!

My Student

Me with my student, Emma. Yes she's taller than me, and yes, she's only 12.

BYU Hockey Game

John and I went on a group date with my room mates to the BYU-Utah Hockey Game. It was pretty amazing. Hockey can be a very invigorating sport. We tired to sit close enough to see the blood, but when a fight broke out I didn't notice any. I did come to the conclusion however, that I am not very good at i phone hockey.

We went to this really yummy ice cream sandwich shoppe before the game. I'm sure the cashier though I was crazy when I ordered strawberry cheesecake ice cream squished between two peppermint cookies. 

When the date finally ended it was midnight. Of course us room mates got together to report on our individual dates. But I was sworn to room mate secrecy.