Throwback Tuesday?

#PictureWithMyDog #BabyJiggles #DuckFace? #LongHairDon'tCare #MyKitchen #IDon'tDoHashTags #Don'tHaveATwitter #SoNotGoodWithHashTags #JustFeltLikePostingAPictureWithMyDog #I'mDoneNow

It's a New Semester, Trying to be Optimistic!

So, I've finished another semester of college! I'm now in my 4th semester at BYU. Last semester was rough for me academically, socially, physically, and emotionally. But I survived! I'm trying to make this semester a better one. Unfortunately my semester started off with me skipping all of my classes on the first day of school, haha. I have a good reason, trust me.

I planned on getting back to BYU Sunday night around midnight then going to my classes the next day since they don't start until 9:30am. The probably was flight delays. I'm from Joliet, Illinois which is about 45 minutes south of Chicago. BYU is in Provo, Utah -- an hour away from Salt Lake City. The problem is getting from one place to the other.

The Original Plan:
- Leave Chicago at 6:45pm
- Land in Denver at 8:30pm
- Leave Denver at 9:30pm
- Land in Salt Lake at 11:00pm
- Take a shuttle to Provo and arrive at my apartment around midnight

What Actually Happened:
- Flight delayed in Chicago until 8:30pm
- Boarded the plane at 8:20pm
- Left Chicago at about 8:45pm
- Landed in Denver at 10:15pm
- Flight delayed in Denver until 12:30am
- Boarded the plane at 12:40am
- Left Denver at 1:20am
- Arrived in Salt Lake at 2:45am
- Got baggage at 3am
- Left airport in shuttle at 3:30am
- Arrived at my apartment at 4:30am
- Went to bed at 4:45am
- Woke up at 12pm

Yes, I skipped all of my classes on the first day. Yes, I was tired. Yes, I'm a little behind right now. And yes, I've been a zombie for a couple of days because my sleeping schedule is destroyed. But, I'm just glad that I got to Utah in one piece. Flying at Christmas time is crazy. Don't do it, or else you'll be a zombie.

What's Normal at BYU?

This list of social norms here at BYU might surprise you if you aren't familiar with the Latter-Day Saint Culture so, if you have questions feel free to comment!

It is normal at BYU to...

- Be married before you earn your Bachelor's degree
- See pregnant women walking around campus
- See couples with one or two young children and not have their Bachelor's degree yet
- Come back to your dorm at 3am because you were hanging out with friends
- Have a ward with so many active members at church that you're still on the waiting list for callings
- Be out of breath walking to every class because you're never walking on flat land
- Not have class from 11-12pm on Tuesday because of Devotionals
- Not have breakfast on Sundays because the dining hall is closed because of the Sabbath
- Go one so many dates that you ran out of fingers to count
- Have half of your freshman class be gone next semester because of the missionary age change
- Write papers about the Book of Mormon
- Sing church hymns in tunnels after ward prayer
- Hate the University of Utah
- Spend all of your money on BYU Creamery ice cream
- Get excited that boys can come to your dorm room 7-9pm on Sundays and Wednesdays
- Only have friends that are Mormon

Work is How We Get Through Life

Yesterday I went to my Music 101 professor and asked him how to study for his tests because I've been getting a grade of 70% on almost all of my tests for his class. He gave me his mini lecture but it was very insightful nonetheless. He told me that he can't teach me how to not to the work and do well but he could tell me how to work and do well. He told me that in order to study I have to be willing to do the reading before class because that's how college is designed. The professor is simply there to answer questions and present the main topics but not do the work for us. He also said when taking notes go back and study them periodically instead of cramming a few days before. He told me to organize my notes in an order that makes sense in my head instead of the professor's head if it's more helpful. Then he told me to mix up the order because if you learn everything in order you're never really learning anything. Another thing, he was very straight forward with saying that when you study don't have distractions because then you don't focus. This was all so simple but it made so much more sense to me. I feel more motivated to apply this to all of my classes.

If you got lost in all of that here's the basic steps to studying efficiently:
1) Do the reading before class
2) Take notes in class and when you do the reading on your own
3) Study the notes on your own periodically before the test
4) Don't study the notes in order because you won't really learn them
5) Don't cram all of your studying into one day
6) Don't have distractions during studying

This is advice was given to me by Dr. Johnson.

GOOD LUCK WITH STUDYING!!!

I'll Be Home for Christmas, If Only in My Dreams

I'm looking forward to coming home for Christmas break because.....
   - I get to see Jesse
   - I get to spend Christmas with my family
   - I get to see my friends home from college
   - I get to sleep in my bed again
   - I get to play fetch with my dog
   - I get to make Christmas cookies
   - I get to go Christmas shopping
   - I get to drive my car again
   - I get to celebrate New Year's with my family
   - I get to see all my friends from church again
   - I get to have home cooked meals
   - I get to shower without flip flops on
   - I get to possible go back to work
   - I get to watch tv
   - I get to make cupcakes
   - I get to have a Christmas party
   - I get to see A Christmas Carol with my family
   - I get to hug and kiss Jesse
   - I get to listen to the radio
   - I get to walk on flat land
   - I get go to Gabe's wrestling meets with Jesse
   - I get to make Christmas presents for people
   - I get to drink hot chocolate
   - I get to be home

String Problems :/

Since 4th grade I've been playing the viola. For those who aren't familiar with it, I'll explain. The viola looks like a violin but it is bigger in size, and it has the same strings as a cello but an octave higher. The viola section of an orchestra never gets the melody. The violins do, the cellos do, but not the viola. Why? I ask myself the same question every time I get stuck playing the accompaniment portion of a piece. Anyway, the main point that you should take away is that the viola is better. It just is; it's not as low as a cello or bass but it's not as high as a violin. So, it's just right for me. I've been playing the viola for about 10 years now, and I still continue to like it.

Moving on with my string problems. My stand partner is at war with me I feel like sometimes. I feel like there's just something a little off sometimes. The problem is he tunes really loud to the point where I can't really hear myself tune and I'm the one closes to my own instrument. I would ask him to tune quieter but it's not polite to talk during tuning. So, I don't really know if I'm actually 100% in tune all the time unfortunately because I didn't get to tune really when the first tuning A was given. My other problem is we're playing L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 by Bizet. The piece isn't the problem. My stand partner doesn't really use the bowings that are marked in the piece which is kind of irritating when everyone in our section is following the bowings except one person. It throws me off because I'm following the written bowings and my section, and he just doesn't seem to take note of it at all. If you're not familiar with bowings then I'll just say this: it's VERY important in string sections.

All I can say is there's many problems when you're a string player...

This is L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 by Bizet. Enjoy!

My Morning at the Gym

For the month of October I'm participating in a Lazy Man Iron Man here at BYU. Here's competition: you have an entire month to complete a full Iron Man - 112 miles of biking, 2.4 miles of swimming, and 26 miles of running. Today I went to the gym and decided that I was going to do my cycling on the stationary bike. My goal was to complete 10 miles of biking in one hour. When I had 20 minutes left of my workout the girl, who WAS on a stationary bike already, asked me when I was going to be done with the machine. I told her that I was going to complete my 10 miles then I would be done. She said okay and continued to use her bike. After about 5 minutes she got off her bike, looked at me for a few seconds, then mumbled something, and walked away. I think it was something negative but that's just my guess. I finished my 10 miles though! 102 miles of biking left! :)