2 months!?

I can't believe how long it's been since I've written on my blog. I apologize profusely for the extended absence. So much has happened that I don't know what to write about.

October was good...I don't remember a lot of details. Halloween was fun. I was a pirate and didn't purchase a single thing for my costume; everything came out of my closet.

Michelle was Mrs. Incredible and we had a crazy night trying to find the funnest party in Provo.

November came quickly and I found myself counting down the days until Thanksgiving break. School was crazy those 3 weeks before the holiday and I barely had a moment to breathe. I didn't finish midterms until the day before break. I don't really understand why they call them midterms because when there are 3 "midterms" in a class you can't have them in the middle of the term. They should be "one-third-terms" and "two-thirds-terms" so students understand the expectations better.

Along with "midterms" I had papers and responsibilities for HSA as the publicity chair. That's another beef I have. I'm supposed to be the "chair" of the committee and I understood that to mean that I would be able to take charge of a group of people interested in publicizing events for HSA. Well, not only am I not really in charge but I hardly have an interested group of people. I have to wait for the vice-president of HSA to tell me what to do before I do anything and then I email my committee to see who wants to help and only 2 or 3 people respond and 1 or 2 of them are too busy to help (they could create a flyer in the time it takes them to email me and tell me they can't help). So, the one person that shows interest and has time to help is the same person every time and she always willingly emails me a flyer for us to use but, regrettably, I usually decide not to use the flyer because it looks like it was made by a third-grader (no offense to third-graders). So i'm kind of struggling with this position because I don't have much freedom to do what I want so I don't feel like caring and the few times I have helped out, I didn't get credit. Maybe next semester I'll kick it into high gear and make some serious progress...maybe.

So, Thanksgiving break finally came around and everyone was gone, except my roommate Michelle! I was so excited when she told me she was staying in our apartment because I hate being there alone and it was perfect because we both had plans the whole break but we knew we weren't there alone at night. Wednesday I slept in and then decorated our apartment with Christmas decorations after cleaning my room. Then I pretty much hung out with Amy, Brandon, Brian, and the rest of the Despains for the week. Thanksgiving was really fun. We went over to the Fellars' in the early afternoon and watched football, made butter, watched the turkey be put in the turkey fryer and nibbled on the veggie tray. We ate later that afternoon and after everyone had mostly digested we headed to FatCats for the traditional bowling tournament. I lost but I didn't expect much from myself so I only feel bad because Bob was on my team and, because of my poor bowling skills, we lost, even though he's one of the best bowlers ever :(.

That Saturday was the BYU-Utah game and we won! I participated in the field rushing and it was quite a rush. The rest of the weekend was very enjoyable and relaxing and it was exciting to see everyone return to Provo!

Going back to school after the break was way more stressful than I anticipated. I didn't do any homework over the break and that was a bad idea. I forgot how much I had due that week and I wasn't close to being done with most of it. I had two presentations, a final paper, a homework assignment, and a few other little assignments all due within the first 3 days of the week. Luckily I had a nice break from homework so I was ready to buckle down and get to work. I got everything done on time and in good quality. Now I just have two more papers to write and finals to focus on. School is almost over!!!

We had our first snowfall on Saturday. I was planning on going to volunteer at the Festival of Trees with the ward and a girl from the ward called that morning to see if we were still going and I couldn't think of a reason why we wouldn't and she told me it was snowing! I looked out the window into a winter wonderland! We still went to the Festival but with a very small group. The Festival of Trees was so much fun. We just stood by the trees in a certain area to make sure no one touched them, etc. and then when our 3-hour shift was over we got treats and looked at the other trees. There were hundreds of them and there were gingerbread houses and wreaths and centerpieces. It was incredible. All the money from selling the trees, etc. goes to the Primary Children's Medical Center. It was an awesome experience! (That's Michelle and I amidst the mass of trees, an awesome Disney Princess tree, a very cute Paris-themed tree, and the coolest gingerbread "house"--it's all made out of gingerbread, amazing! Click on the pics to see them bigger.)

Well, now it's December and school is my top priority even though it's the last thing I want to do. I got my haircut and now I'm just waiting for my bangs to grow out a little bit so I can say I love it. I cannot wait until Christmas break. I am counting down the days until I get to go home. 17 days! (I just try not to think about the 18-hour car ride to get there.)