Mr. Roboto

BEHOLD MY FIRST SNOWMAN
His name is Herman Roboto Jones... Mr. Jones for short.

This is my crack team of Snowman builders.

Taggart, the ever tactful packer of snow.

Robbie, who trekked miles to roll the snow that now makes up Mr. Jones' torso.

And Ben, the very sleepy, who due to excessive finals related stress did not really participate in the building portion, but did come up with the idea to give Herman antennae.

Me and my Creation.

It's ALIVE! Mua haha ha ha!

I love him so

PS. Getting overexcited + Jumping up and down in deep snow = Fall on your butt :P

ps. NEW HAIRCUT

On a whim I decided to cut my hair.
And of course, I didn't go the normal route. I sat myself down in front of my bedroom mirror, grabbed a pair of kitchen scissors and went at it.

DISCLAIMER! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

What I originally intended to be 2 inches turned into about 8 or 9... When I went to Rachel to clean up what I had done, she wisely suggested that we go to a professional.
She had to take of another 3-4 inches, but managed to salvage some hair :P

This was my inital reaction...

What!? It's really gone!?

Well, I guess it's not so bad... I think I like it :)

Hahaha, like it?

It just goes to show that a little spontaneity goes a long way. I never would have had the courage to do this on my own... but I love it.

The Boy

I've been avoiding blogging for a while now, especially about a certain development in my life. I figured today (mostly out of sheer boredom) that I should just bite the bullet and BLOG. I guess I will take this opportunity to confirm the rumors that I'm sure have been circulating...

Meet Ben.

We met in our Family Home Evening group.
He was shy...

and I was loud...

so, of course it was a little while before we got to talking.
What finally brought us together was my fully stocked kitchen and his bottomless pit of a stomach. So, we started hanging out.
Lo and behold, the day before Homecoming I found this outside my door.
He defineitely gets points for creativity.

That was October 10th, and we've been dating ever since.

:)

Documentation for November 21st

For the last couple of weeks we have been working on our Disciple-Scholar presentations. My group has been assigned the idea of expecting resistance and overcoming it. We were asked to choose someone who represents this. We decided on Job from the Old Testament. Job was an awesome disciple, he followed the word of God and was greatly blessed for it. In spite of this he was visited with great trials. He was afflicted with illness, his family died, and he lost his home and possessions all in one fell swoop. However Job did not give in to his trials. He accepted what had happened to him and he never turned his back on God, as many would in such a situation. I have tried to remember this in my life daily so that I can better become a true Disciple-Scholar. I have experienced my fair share of trials, but I think that my greatest accomplishment in life has been to accept and overcome them. My father died when I was very young. One day he was a little sick and the next I was told he only had a few months to live, not an easy thing to process for a seven-year-old daddy’s girl. His illness was difficult, and things have not been easy in the years following. I don’t think you can comprehend just how much the untimely death of a family member effects those left behind unless you experience it for yourself. It has rippled through my extended family as well, none of us realized just how much of an influence my father had on us all until he was gone. However difficult it may be, I do not wish that it had happened any other way. I am surprised by the confidence and peace with which I can say this. I know that it was never meant to be any other way, life has a plan and a course and this is just how it was meant to be, for all of us. We all had something to learn from this, including my Dad. I know that I would not be anything near the person I am today if it wasn’t for what happened. It taught me to be strong, to withstand sadness and come out the other side with a smile on my face. It taught me to be compassionate, at a young age you are prone to think of only yourself, I learned quickly that I was not the only one who lost somebody. It taught me to be self sufficient, there was not man of the house for me growing up and fairly quickly I learned to fill in where he left off. Mowing the lawn, fixing sprinkler heads, sanding tables, re-finishing wood, setting up electronics, tearing out tile, putting together furniture, you name it, I’m proud to say I did it. Also it taught me to ask for help when I need it. All those things I listed before, many I could not learn on my own. I still remember my home teacher showing me how to use the lawn mower, and then taking me to the hardware store and showing me how to fix all the sprinkler heads I broke! I’m still learning how to ask for help, I’m not terribly good at it, but I never said I was done learning! It really sucks that I didn’t get to grow up with my Dad, it sucks even more that my sisters had to lose him too and that my Mom had to raise three girls on her own. I’m not saying that it doesn’t make me sad sometimes, just that I’m grateful for what it has taught me. There is always a reason for the trials we face, they may seem unfair, and they may seem pointless or cruel, but there is a rhyme and reason to it, we just may not see it yet. When I think of my life, I’m proud. I’m proud of my family for sticking together like we have, and I’m proud of myself for the role that I have had in that. I know that there is plenty more to come, whether it be in relation to this or if it’s something entirely new, but I also know that I will take it head on and I will not let it shake me. I have been well prepared for anything that will come my way, and I am so grateful for that.

Documentation for November 7th

For this week’s documentation we were asked to write about one of the goals of a Disciple Scholar, keeping commitments. I have actually learned a lot about this in the last few weeks. Keeping commitments has always been a difficult thing for me, and something I have always wished I was better at. In my Freshman Seminar class our ongoing documentation assignments have helped me the most. Since we are supposed to document every week we have to take the initiative to remember it on our own without any reminder. I was suprised by how easy it is to forget! This assignment is really helpful in teaching me to keep my commitments because I can easily look back and see wether I was sucessful or not. In life you aren't always able to look back at your progress so easily. Keeping my commitment to document is not only important for a grade, but it's also sentimental. I love that this will always be around for me to remember my first semester at BYU and I will be so disappointed if I go to look back at it someday and there are weeks missing, or hastily done. Learning to keep my commitments is so important and will be invalueable in my life. I'm so glad I have been given this chance to make better habits.

Halloween with the Boys

College life has been full of surprises, among them I have realized that boys make way better friends than girls! Here are some snapshots of Halloween with my boys :)

This is my other Jack-o-Lantern that I carved at Rachel's house. Pretty sweet huh?

Looking for happiness in all the wrong places Robbie the pirate, and Taggart the emo teenager :P

Ben had his eyes closed, so we cropped him out :P


Ben and Robbie watching a movie at my place.

Documentation for October 31st

Well, this week I'm not really sure what to document about. Nobody else seems to know either, so this should be interesting.

This week has gone by so fast! First on Monday we had FHE Pumpkin Carving (let's just add that post on as part of this week's documentation)
Then, on Tuesday I finished my second draft of my Rhetorical Analysis for English 150. It will be the second paper I write for that class, and is supposedly the hardest. I havn't had much trouble with it, and I hope that means that I am doing well. I have a consultation with my English teacher on Tuesday of next week, so I should find out then. We are required to go to the Writing Center in the JKB for all our papers except for the last one so that we have experience with it and get to decide wether we like it or not. I think it is most helpful as a final revision, last time they helped me a lot by going through and tying up all the loose ends. It must have worked well becuase I got a 98/100!
I think I'm going to take another writing class next semester, my teacher seems to think I have a knack for it, and I am really growing to enjoy it.
As for my other classes, not much is new. In my Humanities class we have moved into the Art History unit. Right now we are focusing on the predominantly Christian works of the Middle Ages. Anthropology also, never ceases to impress and interest me. We are now reading a antropological study written by my professor called The Place of Stunted Ironwood Trees.
With all that I'm trying my best to live up to the expectations of a Disciple Scholar. One place where I think I have improved most significantly is in accepting correction. Especially with my student teacher consultations and visits to the writing center, I am finding that it is nothing to be afraid of.
Well, until next time... I hope this was moderately interesting!

Happy Halloween

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening tonight... here are some sweet pictures :)

The GREATEST PUMPKIN EVER!!!!!!!!

I stabbed myself... but Ben fixed it :)

Survey!!!

University 101
Documentation for Week #5

Last week we were given the opportunity to try a new survey for freshman at BYU. It mostly asked questions related to our plans, study habits and expectations. It took me a while to complete it; it was really in depth. I found that most of my answers seemed typical to me, just where your average student ought to be. I said that I expect to get mostly B’s in my classes this semester, that I am pretty disciplined when it comes to getting my work done, and I have high hopes for my future beginning with graduation in 4 years or less and then moving on to my career. The awesome thing about this survey, it turns out, is that is gives you feedback on your answers. My feedback was surprising, but helpful. As far as graduating, I answered just as most students do, but even though 100% of BYU students are fully committed to graduating, in reality only 78% of students actually do. I’m glad to have seen that statistic because it reminded me that even though I may intend to graduate I still need to be careful and conscious of what I am doing each day to make that happen. I also thought that my study habits were pretty solid, but according to the results of my survey they may not hold up in a college environment. This too was a welcome warning. My results warned me that at least 3 hours of study time for a college exam is recommended. I’m glad I was told that before I had to face any really challenging exams! Lastly, the program gave me an awesome list of resources for all different kinds of classes and subjects. It’s tough to know where to find these things at a new school, especially when it is such a large university! This survey really helped me to get a better perspective on how I’m doing. I will definitely take the advice that It gave me in hopes of making the most of my time here at BYU.

Accept Correction

University 101
Documentation for Week #3

This week we learned a lot about our dual nature. We learned that there are two distinct ways that our mind works, Sopically and Mantically. The sophic mind is logical and analytical whereas the mantic is more creative, spatial and emotional. This is also referred to as left-brained (sophic) and right-brained (mantic) because of which hemisphere of the brain controlls each process of thought.

Sister Haddock gave us a challenge to show jus how this worked in our own minds. First she told us to sing "Happy Birthday" together. Then she had us take out a piece of paper, and told us to write down the word "Supercalafragilisticexpyalidocious" (I have no idea if that's spelled right) while singing the song with out pausing or stopping. It was suprisingly difficult! Then she descibed a picture of a house, with many specific features and told us to draw it while again singing "Happy Birthday". This time it was fairly easy. She explained that singing required the Sophic or left-brain, and when we tried to write the word, another activity that required the left-brain we found it difficult to do both. Drawing the house, however, was a right-brained or Mantic activity, and this is why we found it so much easier.

This week we also worked on Accepting Correction (from last week's 5 traits) by choosing some activities that would allow us to practice this. We then had to write up a 2 page paper on it. This is an excerpt from what I wrote:

"I really learned a lot about the University and myself through this week’s assignment. I hadn’t ever really thought about why it was that I had avoided meeting and seeking help from others. I believe now, that I was afraid of criticism or of being patronized. But I found that was far from what I found when I finally put myself out there... I have shied away from many new things simply because of this fear. Right now I am trying to find what it is in the arts that I really have a passion for. I love to sing, and I have a talent for it, but I don’t like the strictness of classical training. I would like to study composition, but I have been too afraid to try it. I also think I may enjoy creative writing, but again, a fear of criticism has kept me from sharing my ideas. I am so grateful for this University and the people here who have shown me that I should not be afraid. I hope that through these teachings about the disciple-scholar that I will be able to overcome this fear, and share my ideas being completely ready to accept correction."

Life Science Museum

For my Anthropology class we are studing the African Bushmen. So as a part of our studies, my professor assigned the class to visit the Bean Life Science Museum on the edge of campus to try and find all the animals we had read about in the Kalahari Desert.

So on the day it was due, I, and about half of my 800 student class, went to get it over with. I was not expecting to enjoy it, but to my suprise it was really fun! I ended up wandering around to every exhibit, grinning like a kid in a candy store and snapping pictures with my camera phone. People must have thought I was on something!

Here are my favorite shots from the museum.



This one reminded me of the movie "Wild America"... if anyone has it, can I borrow it? I actually had trouble standing in front of this one long enough to get a picture. It was probably 7-8 feet tall, and pretty realistic!

"Long live Mufassa!!!"



It's a LIGER! You know, "bred for their magical abilities?" Napoleon would be sooo excited.

Last but not least, the mountain goat. Not to be mean, but I took this picture because out of all the tons of animals I saw in the museum, this one was by far the ugliest! :P

Updates!!!

I've been neglecting the blog, I know... but the life of a new college student is NOT easy!
Well here is a quick update on this week's activities.

Yesterday was an interesting day. We (Liz, Sydnee and I) got to leave campus early since we had a test in our Religion class. But, sometimes getting home early isn't such a great thing. Pretty soon Liz and I were bored out of our skulls! So we decided to have some fun.
Sydnee was working hard at the creamery, so naturally Liz and I raided her scarf collection. (With her permission of course!) This was the result.

We were feeling pretty stylish! Of course we had to show off to our fellow students, so off we went with a camera in one hand and our beloved bucket of chalk in the other. Unfortunately, most of our friends were inside studying. But we found ways to entertain ourselves.

That took up enough time, and before long it was time go to World of Dance. We are supposed to attend certain performances on campus throughout the year for our Humanities class. In this case the Freshman Acadamy even bought our tickets!

Of course it was school related so we had to document. :)

Deciple Scholar

University 101
Documentation for Week #2

This week we learned more about the qualities of a deciple scholar. Sister Hadock taught us a little hula dance to remember the habits of great learners.

1. Welcome Correction
2. Keep Commitments
3. Work Hard
4. Help Others
5. Expect Resistance - Overcome

These are from an article in the Liahona by Henry B. Eyring calld A Child of God. Elder Eyring also discusses how important humility is, especially in study and learning. He says that faith in the plan of salvation is what creates humility and the power to learn. He also says that the way to grow in faith that we are children of our Heavenly Father is to act like it.

Here are a couple pictures of us learning the dance. We also had to teach it to three people this week who did not already know it, and in the process explain what it is to be a Deciple-Scholar.

The dance has motions for each of the 5 habits of great learners. This one is for keeping commitments.

This lesson really taught me a lot. It gave me 5 simple habits I can work toward. And I defineitely will!