Books and Such

Today is a beautiful Fall day. Yes, a bit cold, yes a bit rainy, and yes, the bottoms of my jeans will be soaked for the rest of the day because I forgot to wear rain boots, but it's still beautiful nonetheless. Fall makes me think of curling up on a couch with a good book, Starbucks hot chocolate, and my pink fleece blanket.

Speaking of books, have I ever mentioned I love them? This next story will prove how literary and bookish I am. After the General Relief Society broadcast Saturday night (which was wonderful), I had the strongest urge to go to Barnes and Noble. I kept telling myself I had stuff to do after the broadcast, but the urge wouldn't go away. So I went. And it was wonderful! I think I spent an hour or more there, just looking. I love walking in and smelling the Starbucks smell, a mix of coffee, chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mm! I looked all over the store, from the children's section to the cookbook section to the biography section. I spent time looking at cool coffee table books I want to have in my home one day. A coffee table book can say a lot about the people who live there!

So yes, it's stories like this that make me love my major. I hope someday I can have my own library, and not just have it, but actually use it. Reading to me is such an amazing way to learn about people, cultures, life, history, anything. My wish right now is that I had more free time to read for myself. School and work are definitely keeping me busy. Maybe someday! But until then, I heart Barnes and Noble.

Half-Birthdays and The Times

Today is my half-birthday. Six months ago today I left teenage-dom, and to be honest, today I still don't feel any older. But I definitely am, especially in BYU terms. Today I was sitting in my Physical Science lab, and I was talking to a Freshman about the class, and then he asked me if I had taken Biology 100 yet. I said, "Yes, I took that a year ago." And he said, "Oh, so you're a Sophomore?" "No, a Junior." "Oh, wow. A Junior." Don't ask me what he meant. It was either said in awe, that he couldn't believe he was talking to an upper-classman, or it was said as if "I hope I never become a Junior. They're so old." Or it could have been that Physical Science is usually a Freshman class, and little Miss Procrastinator here put if off for as long as she could. I'm hoping for the first answer, but intuition is telling me he just thinks I'm old. So happy half-birthday to me. I'm not quite sure what it is about BYU culture that makes you feel old at 20 1/2, but it is what it is. But am I old enough to start lying about my age? Because I promised myself that I never will.

Right now I'm reading the New York Times. There's something about the rustle of turning pages in a newspaper that just makes me feel so intelligent. I never read the Times because it costs money and I can read it online for free, but I found a box of complimentary issues in the Brimhall building today, so I took one. And I love it! Getting lost in the newspaper is a beautiful thing. I credit this love of news-absorption to my Communications 101 class. I'm really glad I decided to minor in Communications.

Provo Yogurt

This past Saturday BYU was slaughtered by Florida State University in our first home football game of the season, so to cure my depression I decided to take a trip to a frozen yogurt place and get a treat. My dilema: Provo has about 50 possible frozen yogurt places to choose from. How to decide? Spoon Me wins for having the best name, but according to my roommate Alicia Yozone wins for the best toppings, and they charge you by the ounce, so you choose how much or how little you want. So we settled on Yozone, where I got New York Cheesecake, Cookies and Cream, and Cake Batter frozen yogurt, topped with Kit-Kats, Reese's, gummy bears, strawberries, and marshmallow cream sauce. And every bite was delicious. For about $2.50, it was worth it.

This got Leash and I discussing the million frozen yogurt places we know of in Provo, and we decided to combine them to make this great name: Hello Red Spoon Fro-Zone Oasis. Kind of silly, but kind of fun!

Ego-centricity

I found this fabulous article on CNN.com by columnist Ruben Navarrette, Jr. Although he and I definitely live on different sides of the political spectrum, I wholeheartedly agreed with a lot of his ideas. Enjoy, and think hard about it!

Commentary: Joe, Kanye, Serena - aren't they special?

Okay Kanye...Seriously?

I've never been a huge fan of Kanye West. His songs are okay (I'm known to get really excited when I hear "Gold Digger"), but his attitude has always bugged me. I swear for every awards show he throws a fit when he doesn't win. How old are we? So I was bugged when I got online Monday morning and saw this:

Click here.

Then, I saw a video of Beyonce, and what she did to make up for Kanye's stupidity.

Click here.

What a classy move, Beyonce. I don't understand why there are some people out there who can't let others have their moment, people who have to win all the time. Kanye has been blaming what he did on everything other than himself. Come on. Take fault for your own actions. And let other people shine for once. Because you know this isn't the last time you'll throw a fit.

Fall

I LOVE Fall, and everything about it. The colors, the football games, the food, and the clothes! I've become addicted to boots and sweaters and can't wait to wear all of them. I also love watching nature change. In the office that I work in on campus, I have a perfect view of "Y" mountain, and slowly but surely the trees are starting to change their colors. It's so beautiful!

Tomorrow I'm hiking Mount Timpanogos, and I hope I can see the color changes there, too. That is, if I survive the hike. I'm a wimp.

First week of Junior year: done. My feelings towards it: I think it will be good. My roommate Sonhee was telling me she got an A- in Physical Science, and an A- to her is like a D- to me. I would give anything for an A- in that class! But I've learned this week that if I put in the effort to really learn the material and practice it, it'll work out. I've even gotten to the point where I'm looking around throughout the day for examples of gravity or centripetal force or Newton's Third Law of Motion (all forces result from interactions between pairs of objects, each object exerting a force on the other. The two resulting forces have the same strength and act in exactly opposite directions thank you very much!) So we'll see if I can pull off an A. My goal is to get a 4.0 this semester. We shall see!

Aaaaand, We're Back!

Cool quote: "Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." Oscar Wilde

School officially started yesterday, and it's hard to believe I'm already a Junior! I've decided to be motivated and make it a great semester. It might be hard because I'm taking Physical Science, and while I'm determined to get an A now I might be contemplating just giving up and failing once it starts to get too hard. But who knows. Maybe I'll prove myself wrong and do well. I sure hope so!

I LOVE BYU. I love the campus and the people and the way everything looks when school starts. I love it when I'm at work and students come in with questions and I can answer them. I love my professors and I love how gospel topics are applied even in my Communications class. Basically, I love it here.

This past Saturday I ran in a 5K raising awareness for the prevention of domestic violence, and while it definitely kicked my behind, it felt so good to do it. I'm thinking of making 5K's a part of my life now. Next up, I'm training for a 10K in October!