Honor Week, Dances and Shenanigans

On Sunday, I went to church and it was exciting. I then came back and did homework for a while and just relaxed. Then Sadie invited me over to come and talk which somehow led to trying on dresses for an upcoming dance. Well while I was in there Ewa, Savannah, Genny and Alex all appeared outside the door. It turns out they had been knocking on my door for 20 minutes and when I didn't answer they were worried about me. They thought I had died. I didn't appreciate this because it makes it sound like I never leave my room!!Which is definitely not true!

On Monday, I had my classes and then we just chilled. We had FHE, where we did a giant scavenger hunt in the Church building. We had 24 pictures of things we had to find and take a picture of. Another ward was also doing a scavenger hunt so it was a little crazy! It was really fun!

On Tuesday, I had a work meeting and then worked the first shift. Nothing that exciting happened :/.

On Wednesday, I had lunch with the craziest bunch of people ever! We were really excited about these live web cams online that show penguins, sea otters, and jelly fish! Then we were telling crazy stories and I was laughing so hard! After lunch I ran into Nicole who also hadn't done the homework yet for our class on Thursday. We teamed up and sat on these benches inside the hallway between the ballroom and Chandler Hall. We completed that and then just sat and talked! I then worked double shift, and first shift was super super super long! Then the second shift I worked on the same team as Nicole and we kept each other sane.

On Thursday, after my classes I went to lunch and then was hanging out with Savannah, when my friend John-John came over and we sat and talked outside in the freezing rain! I think we were all too lazy to actual walk 5 steps into Jonzzeys. We then went to Main Hall because he had some things to get done (he's in charge of activities and stuff like that on campus), so we tagged a long. We made some joke about how the rain would turn to hail, and as Rebekah (who had just gotten out of class) and I were walking back up to the lofts, IT STARTED TO HAIL! I did not appreciate it. I did some homework, went to dinner, and then went to work. At work we are doing a "Super Bowl" competition. We have a football field table cloth set up and then two footballs. For every ding you get to move your teams football two spaces. When you get a ding you get a skittle, when you get a combo you get a chocolate football, and when your team gets a touchdown your whole team gets a chocolate football! Its the best. Chocolate makes work more enjoyable :)
If you look at the bottom of the picture you can maybe see the hail.

On Friday we had our Honor Forum. Some students, a counselor, and a teacher all spoke. It was soo good! I felt so proud and honored (hehe) to be a student at Southern Virginia University! I absolutely love it here! We ate a delicious lunch and then I ended up sitting and talking with my friend Lauren till almost dinner time! We went down to get a package and then sat in the dinning hall waiting for dinner. At dinner we realized that Lauren, me, and our friend Taylor (who is Anna's new roommate) were all wearing jean shirts from dark to light. It was cute! After dinner we all came back to my room to get ready for the Honor Ball. The VMI jazz band was playing again and they attempted to do dance cards... which didn't really work. But it was good, not the best dance we have had, but still good memories. After the dance we came back and changed and then ate food and watched my favorite movie, While You Were Sleeping.
Here is Genny, Alex, and I at forum.

 The dark to light jean shirts! Lauren is on the left, Taylor on the right.

 I did Genny's hair for the dance!

 This was my hair after the dance so it is a little messed up.. but I thought it still looked cute.

 My dress! Thanks Sadie!

Here are the decorations

 I really don't like this picture... we look like midgets! But there we are.....

On Saturday we had an on campus open house. I was in charge of a group of students that I would direct around. Only one kid in my group showed up, but John John had to work a shift in the dinning hall swiping cards because he is an RA. So I took his group for him and went to lunch with them and gave them a tour. I realized that is sounds way more fun and exciting than it actually is. Its hard when I was trying to be all happy and funny and they didn't give me anything! John John said that he would call me to meet again with his group when he was done. Literally the second I said goodbye to them and I turned around, he called! Nice timing..... We ended up just talking and both procrastinating homework for a long time. I did finally come and get homework done with Elizabeth and then we went to dinner. I didn't realize how tired I was till that point. Open houses sure do drain you! I then called my family and we went to the Shenanigan show. That is the improv group on campus. They are so great! And I love being friends with so many people in it! After the show, Alex really needed to go and get some emergency stuff at Walmart so I drove her at like 10:30. It was fun to just sit and talk to her for like an hour!
Oh all the Shenanigans...

 We bought some peanut M&M's because they are also my favorite!

Ready, Set, GO!

Take note that I finally posted about the last two weeks I was here! And another special blog as well. So you can scroll down and read those too!

I arrived on Friday around 3:30. It was a long day of travel and I was grateful to be back. As I looked out the window when I was landing I felt so at home! I couldn't wait to go back to school. Reid picked me up and told me I could stay for dinner (which was awesome because I hadn't ate anything all day!). I stayed for about 2 and a half hours and after I was full from fish tacos I started to drive home. I was blasting music to stay awake, but to be honest I was so hyped about getting to see everyone, I was wide awake! I arrived to hugs and welcomes and it was awesome!

Saturday we went to lunch and then came home. I unpacked and then it was time for dinner. It was pretty empty by the time we were there and it was just nice to be with everyone! I said hi to some more people that I hadn't seen yet and then we came back to get ready for the 80's theme dance. It was super loud and they blew out the system twice, but it was really fun! After the dance Anna, Genny, and Alex all came to my room and we stayed up talking until almost two in the morning.

Sunday was awesome! I really needed the spiritual boost for the week and I was so grateful for the people in my ward. My Relief Society president made bookmarks for each of us that have traits that she has noticed in us. It was super nice and we all got our own copies of Daughters in my Kingdom which is an awesome book! That night we watched two of the Liken the Scripture movies which are so cheesy but so great! And we stayed up late again....
We love church!

Someone decided that it would be a good idea to go to breakfast at 8 in the morning! So thats what we did. The guy swiping cards said "why are you guys up?" I was asking myself the same question! We sat in there and goofed off for a really long time. When we left we walked outside and sat there and talked for a while because it was soo pretty. We came home and played bananagrams and then got to some homework. We went to lunch and then Genny, Savannah, and I went on a walk to the front of main hall where we sat and talked in the sun for an hour. It was so nice out! We had dinner and then went to FHE where we played apples to apples but for each round you had a different stipulation. So the first 5 people in were the ones you judged, or the first 5 people to stand, or you had to do the opposite of the green card instead of actually what it said. Then we came back and face-timed alley!

 This describes how we felt about the sun :) haha

Tuesday was my first day of classes. I had American and the Enlightenment (Which is basically just US history. And its much more fascinating knowing i'm only like three hours from some of the places we have been discussing), Choir, and Introduction to Theatre History which is amazing!!! I am absolutely loving that class! I had a meeting for the literary magazine called the Review and I also went back to work and had a work meeting. Another nice thing that happened was when I was walking back up the the Lofts (they have started construction on the new boys dorms and we arn't allowed to use the stairs. So we have to hike through the institute parking lot and go up the hill), my sort of friend (because we are all friends here), offered me a ride up! It was very nice of him! I am very thankful for all the extremely nice people on campus.

Wednesday I had institute (which is amazing!), Microeconomics which will be my hardest class, Reason and the Self, and Leader Servant. Overall I love all my classes, there is just a lot of reading! I had to work a double shift but I got to help train my friend Nichole which was super fun!

Thursday I went to all my classes and nothing really exciting happened. My student card snapped in half though!

Friday I went to my classes and then we had forum. President Wilcox spoke and it was amazing. He was talking about our mission here on this earth and at this school. It was really great. We had a good lunch and then five or six of us stormed the financial office with different things. So I got a new card with a new picture, and this time I don't look like a bunny! I had a meeting at 1:30 so we were just walking around and it started snowing! It was very cold but pretty. I went to my meeting with a teacher to get caught up and then went to the library to take a test (yes... I already had a test). I hung around till 4 when I had an information meeting for the Open House coming up. After that we hung out in the dinning hall till dinner and than ate. That night we had the first round of SVU idol. I think maybe 10 or so acts performed (including Ewa) and then the judges decided on five to go through. It was an awesome night of some great music! And with a hilarious "What does the Fox say" performance while waiting for the results. Ewa did make it through which was awesome!! It was pouring rain when we had walked down there and my shoes were still wet more than two hours later, so I managed to get us a ride back up the hill by being sneaky :) We came back and Jane, my new RA freaked out because she had bought us Nutella to go with our animal crackers. So we sat in a giant circle and ate that and talked for a while. At almost midnight I went and was talking to the other RA on my hall named Lanie. She is super amazing. We talked for a while and somehow I ended up sitting with some people in her hall till like 2:40. Then I talked to Lanie again and Merissa, my old RA, was texting me till 4AM! It was super fun but crazy!

Saturday I slept in and then went to lunch. I was so out of it and was starting to get sick (due to the fact that the earliest I had gone to bed this week was 2AM and I have 8 o'clock classes everyday). I came back and watched TV then took an hour nap. It was great! I got some homework done and talked to Alley and then went to dinner. After dinner I tried to get some stuff done and then I went to the SVU Idol finals. Ewa did such a good job! But she didn't make the cut to the final three. They performed again and then the audience voted. It was a lot of fun! We came back from that and then went to Sheetz to buy frozen hot chocolate and then watched Letters to Juliet. We talked again till about 2 and then Sam and I stayed up and talked till 4AM.... again....... whoops! It was much needed though!
Here are all the finalist singing :)

12 things I learned about Me my first semester in College

1. Cereal is my comfort food! I can and will eat it at almost every meal. It makes me think of home and it is always delicious!

2. I love leaves. Everything about them. They fascinate me and can be a great metaphor for life. They always grow and change, but a leaf always appears on the tree, year after year. I am obsessed with the crunch they make as well. Every time one is on the ground, I make a deliberate effort to go and step on it!

3. I love laundry. I think its so relaxing to put in a load of laundry and then fold it when its all warm, clean, and soft. Its the best thing ever!

4. I have mastered the Facebook stalk. I never use to do this but the second I got to school there were all these new people, so it was only normal to go and find out stuff about them...... okay, maybe not.

5. Naps are essential to life. I set an alarm for 15 minutes. I fall asleep with 10 minutes left and that's all I need! I feel better and have energy to continue conquering my day!

6. Being alone is how I relax. Give me knitting, a movie, Netflix, or a book and leave me alone and I am set! I will relax in minutes!

7. I do like people. In fact I love people! I always knew the importance of a best friend. Someone you can rely on always. But I never realized that all the people surrounding you is the key! I have met some amazing people this year that I know without them I would be going crazy! They are amazing and I look forward to spending time with them. I never liked going out with people before because I honestly think I didn't really like all the people that would be there. I never felt like I was comfortable or could truly be me. A big group of amazing people that love you for you is pretty dang cool!

8. Not reading a book for my own leisure drives me nuts! I had to read a lot this semester so by the time I would have a moment to relax I resorted to TV because it was a mindless thing to do. It drove me crazy!!

9. Theater is a huge part of my life. I found myself thinking about being on stage, how a character would act, how I would do a scene if it were on stage, etc. I remember going on stage the first time in months to sing for choir. I felt so at home! I absolutely loved it! I miss acting sooooo much!

10. Art really is everything. My art wall in my room keeps me fascinated for hours. I never realized how much I rely on art. I think about it often and wonder the stories each painting holds. It's very distracting!

11. Service is not in the big things. There are so many people on campus that serve in the smallest of ways. Growing up I always felt like people focused on the biggest most spectacular service projects in the world! I learned that the greatest piece of service is noticing the people around you. A compliment can brighten your day in seconds. Its amazing!

12. The gospel really does bring joy. I look around campus and think, "Wow! We are all so happy! All the time!" You can look around and see the few people that aren't going to church or are making bad decisions. The ones that are going to church, serving, reaching out out to others, going to FHE, and making time to read their scriptures and truly happy. There is such a difference in the ones that do all that and the ones that don't. This semester is the first time that I have truly felt 110% happy! I laugh all the time and find that things that use to bother me don't anymore.

I love Southern Virginia University. The people and experiences I have had are shaping me everyday! It's truly a blessing and I am counting down the days till I get to return to my Virginia home! 

Its Christmas Time!

Monday for FHE we made gingerbread houses. The Bishop and his wife were the judges. Our family was the only one that hadn't won anything this semester so we went all out! We were so into it, and it definitely paid off because we won. It definitely was the best one :)

On Wednesday our choir sang down in Buena Vista at an art festival. We sang a couple songs and looked at all the local artists works. There were some gorgeous ones.

Friday was such a fun day! For forum we had a giant Christmas celebration. The choirs performed and we had lots of other small groups perform. It was very funny!

We had our Christmas concert that night and I am always so impressed with the talent at my school! It was incredible. The orchestra and big choir sang stuff from the Messiah and it was spectacular!

Then finals week happened and everything was a blur. But here are some moments from that last week.
There was a mens basketball game, which we watched and then went to play in the rain!

 These are the gingerbread people I made to represent Sam and I. We are super different but just similar enough!

It snowed!

All during finals week, they serve breakfast from like 10 to midnight! It was awesome!

Still can't get over how pretty it is!

 Here are my two friends, Savannah, Erika, and I.

THANKSGIVING!!!

Man I needed a break!!

Monday was a super crazy day! I had all my classes and then for FHE we helped decorate Main Hall for Christmas. It turned out most wards had the same idea and we overwhelmed the people in charge. This resulted in most of us just standing around not doing much!

On Tuesday, Ewa and I kept checking our phones willing an email from our boss to come saying that work was canceled. We went to our classes and worked on some homework and we both needed to pack! Our plan was to leave at 8pm after work. We started packing around 2ish and then we got the email! Work was basically canceled. If you were "here" you were suppose to work... so we didn't work! We packed up the whole car and drove down to dinner. We ate and then (after we went back to my room to get the fruit snacks) we left for DC! It was a pretty smooth drive till we hit traffic an hour into the drive. We were stuck for about half an hour and then it opened up. We got to the Garfeilds around 9ish I think, and the craziness began! Ewa, Raquel and I ended up talking till around 12:30. Then Ewa and I stayed up talking till past 2!

Wednesday we woke up early and got ready to go to the temple. We were meeting Andrea there at 10:30. We left somewhere around 9 and on our drive the snow storm hit! It had been raining all morning and as we drove it just got crazier. Once we were at the temple, the snow arrived there and it was beautiful! I am so grateful that we were able to start break off by going to the temple. The peace that is there always amazes me. What a blessing they are!

We walked around the visitors center afterword (Ewa and I also changed into warmer clothes because we had some adventures planned). Every year they have a festival full of manger scenes from all across the world. Raquel said that from December 1st on it is packed with people and you have to wait hours in the line. There wasn't a soul there! We got the whole room to ourselves! I loved looking at all of the scenes. It was awesome!

We then got in the car with Andrea and her friend Candice. They were going to drop us off in the city on their way home. We got in and they asked if we were hungry. I was starving! Candice then said, "Are you hungry for Cafe Rio?" Who does she think I am! YES! So we listened to disney and christmas music and headed to paradise! It was delicious but Cafe Rio on the east coast tastes different than the west coast. Even Andrea agreed! We then were dropped off at the Smithsonian. We went to the Air and Space museum first. We were there for probably an hour then we went to the art museum! We both took art history and are a lover of art! We stayed there for two and a half hours (till it closed) and we didn't even see it all!!! We were so sad, but happy we could see some of it. I just LOVE art! AHH! We navigated the metro to the closest station home, then Reid came and got us. We got back for a yummy dinner of homemade potato soup and hung up curtains. I must say they look quite good!

Thursday we woke up and played some games! We all just hung out and enjoyed the delicious smell of turkey, casserole, stuffing, and roles. We ate about 2:30 and because we had homemade cranberry muffins for breakfast at 11.. we didn't actually eat a whole lot. It was mighty good though! After we ate we went to go play dodgeball with another family in their ward. It was sooo cold! I had on so many layers and my warm coat and still froze! After that we came back home and ate pie! It was so good! We relaxed the rest of the night and enjoyed homemade wassail! It was the best.

 Brigham is my favorite!

 Oh I missed Slush!!

Friday we got woken up by everyone all the sudden in our room. We hurried and got ready and then headed to Old Navy for some great deals for black friday. Seth, Andrea, Ewa and I all bought a ton of stuff! What else can you do when the entire store is 50% off? It was packed and the whole experience was a bit crazy. I made everyone go to Barnes and Noble afterwords because its the best store ever! Then we got in the car and waited for Raquel to meet us so she could buy the stuff that Seth picked out. Once we were home we ate left overs for lunch. All of us ate way more for lunch then we did on actual Thanksgiving! We were stuffed! Andrea then drove Ewa and I back into the city. We walked from the White House to the Washington monument, then to the World War II monument, then the Lincoln. We then headed up to the Foggy Bottom metro station where we got hot chocolate and a croissant for dinner. Then we walked to the Kennedy Center and saw Sutton Foster! It was really cool to hear her sing with the whole national orchestra. She is perfect and I don't know why we arn't best friends!

We had a lot of fun shadow dancing at the Lincoln!

 I was super skilled getting this picture!

 Ewa called these the Splash Mountain seats!

Saturday we spent sometime in the morning just with the family. We ate a big lunch again and helped decorate for Christmas. We left about an hour after we wanted to... that was expected though! Another traffic jam happened and this time I put the car in park. For dinner we went and got frozen hot chocolate :) When we made it back home we unloaded the car and both got some homework done. Then we watched While You Were Sleeping to kick off the Christmas season right! (We also listened to the Pentatonix Christmas album the whole drive! Its soo cool!). 

Sunday we had all 6 wards combine because most everyone was still gone. It was fun to sit by all of our friends in the other wards. After church it was fun to see the whole campus come back to life. It was a great break.... now on to Finals!