beauty, quizzes, and winter

I really love Idaho! When I left my apartment to go to class, the sky was almost blue, but not quite, and you could see some dark clouds that were headed our way.

I decided to park where I could walk by the maple trees that have shed all their leaves already. I like walking that pathway; the trees seem to still be so alive even though they're sleeping for the winter. Their red leaves blanket the ground directly beneath them, and, right outside the building I'm going to enter, there is a large tree (that the squirrels really like, I must add) that has scattered it's golden leaves all over the ground. You cannot see the grass beneath; everything looks golden.

I decide that it will be a great day in class.

It is Facilities Management again. We are to come up with a quiz for each class period. A random person is called, and they give their quiz to the class (and Brother Anderson takes it, too!). Today is different, however. We break off into groups of three or so and choose our top three questions from all three of our quizzes. I was in a group with Jason and Lark.

Here is an example of one of my questions:

3. Do you recall the mandatory fee for each membership/household?

a. $1,587.27 per month
b. $335 per year
c. There was no fee; that was just a rumor
d. $20 and a jar of mayonnaise for a lifetime membership

(b is the correct answer, by the way)


Anyway, we ended up using one of Jason's questions because he makes questions that are easier than either mine or Lark's.

Here is Brother Anderson, contemplating the answer to a question.

I don't think he knows when I'm taking pictures of him.

After class, I climbed up the stairs to go outside (this classroom is in a basement kind of room). It was snowing! It was so pretty, but I couldn't get a good picture of it for you. Later, I took a picture of some of the coneflowers after it had stopped.

It almost looks sad, does it not? That's what I thought at first. But, I started thinking about how everything goes to sleep in the winter. Some things do die. In the spring, everything either wakes up, or new things grow.

While I was thinking about these things, I thought about how the disciples, all those who followed the Savior, must have felt when he died. In the tomb for three days. I don't know what I would have thought.

The Savior is the victor over death. Winter doesn't last forever, and it helps me remember who I should look to for hope. In the end, spring comes, and life grows better after the most heavy of snowfall.

I've always liked the winter, I thought of it as a time of rest...but it sure isn't that way when you have horses to care for, is it? :)

Anyway, I love you guys, and I can't wait to see you the week after next!

I thought I'd be married by now

Well, it just goes to show that it's not just BYU-Idaho. This was from a popular magazine I saw at the checkout stand when I was purchasing green smoothie ingredients.

Another "interesting" item that someone was buying just ahead of me:


Green doughnuts? It's no longer "halloween" time, by the way. The boy did seem very excited about his purchase, though.

Don't you just wish you could be here shopping with me?

let it snow...

I would be more excited, but I really did want to go to Arizona. Now I know what Mr. Gardner meant about the weather not cooperating.

We got about 5-6 inches today. I felt I was transported to a magical land not too far from Narnia.

Kim and I did not know what to do for an FHE activity. I slyly suggested that we go swimming (I personally knew that no one would want to go, and I really just wanted to go with Kim). We ended up going swimming in the Hart building, and then we did a workout called ZUMBA!

Yes. Can you imagine the crazy antics that were Kim and I dancing?

a visit home

I was so happy to see my family this past weekend! I am so lucky to have such good siblings and parents.

I had a great time going to "The Price of Freedom." The only thing I forgot to do? Get pictures with all of the cast!! Emily, wouldn't it have been just smashing to have had a picture with Jordan Bluth? I think so.

So...

What did you all think of my friends? I think they had a most enjoyable time with all of you.

What did you think of Miss Jessi? Wasn't she fun? I hope you can see why Lark and I like to have her with us whenever we are doing something fun.

Speaking of Lark, can you all see that she is like having another sister while I am here at school? It isn't very often that one can have a friend like her. They are few and far between; I am so happy that Heavenly Father blessed us to meet each other at Badger Creek.

It can be hard to be away from home at times; Lark and Jessi make it quite a bit easier. My roommates (especially Kim, Mo and Ashley) have also been very kind to me. I wish you all could get to know them, too!

It was hard to leave you all, but thank you so much for jumping up and down and waving goodbye to us--it made us feel very grand!

Well, I have a lot of pictures and not a lot to say about them.

Just continue to scroll down and read, and you will see what it is I'm talking about.






Adam really seemed to enjoy reading "The Tale of Jeremy Fisher."



Let's see...just a few more. When it was time to wake up Ephraim for church, it took about ten minutes to wake him up!!


Even when I patted him on the back, he just sighed and continued to rest. I wonder why he threw out the blankets? I thought that perhaps it was because his green ones were being washed. What do you think?


What a cutie!

After we left, the sunset over the mountains was very pretty. I wish I could have taken a better picture, but, it is what it is. I hope you can kind of see how pretty that sunset was as we made our way back to Idaho before the snows came.

management

Sometimes it can be difficult to stay focused when studying management. This particular day, it was facilities management.

The teacher is great--you remember Brother Anderson. It is just sometimes that the subject matter is not the most exciting. Like when we learned about budgets. Brother Anderson did say that it could be exciting, though. I just need to figure out how to make it so.

Today, we had a guest speaker that talked about some things BYU-Idaho is doing with their gym building. It was interesting to learn how you have to plan things, how some plans don't work if there are codes or restrictions, and how you need to be creative and open-minded while doing a project like they are.

I was fascinated with the plans. They had drawings of what they will do, and it reminded me of books you read about people having to sneak into a study to swipe the floor plans of a castle so they know where all the secret passageways are. I thought about that for a long time. I wanted to ask the lady if she knew how to design secret passageways and rooms. I didn't, though, because I felt that she might not take me seriously.

After she put away the blueprints, things went more slowly. She was wrapping things up and taking questions from the class. Some students had questions, but I mostly kept thinking about secret passageways behind library bookshelves. When I stopped to look around the classroom, this is what I saw:

The girl closest is Lark, the one sleeping next is Sarah Bedke, then there's Jodi, Rebecca is the girl in red that looks as if she might fall asleep at any time, and Brother Anderson is on the end, probably thinking about secret passageways.

What do you guys think of this picture? What do you think everyone in the picture is thinking? What does it look like they're looking at?

the fish tank

I really enjoy watching fish tanks. There is a fish tank in the building that I have most of my classes in that I love to look at. It is in the Geology Museum.

I could not get a closer picture, but there are all sorts of fish in this tank! One that I especially like hides under the coral, scooping up piles of sand with his mouth and spitting it out everywhere. What an interesting fish.

I looked at the fish tank for a while. Lark and Adam were there, too. I don't know if they enjoy the fish tank as much as I do. However, Lark did find something pretty amazing inside one of the cases that had many precious stones and rocks on display.

Can you see what that is in the very center? It's not a rock, and there was no label. It is behind locked glass so I could not touch it or examine it more closely. What do you think it is?

I love it when...

I love it when program management gets canceled...especially when I've slept in and would have been late, anyway. If I had a picture of myself from this morning, it would be funny. I got back under the blue cozy-blanket right after I received a text from Jason-Greg-Wiggle telling me that class was canceled.

It just seemed to good to be true.

Well, I visited Lark last night, and I got to watch a rainbow come and go.


Isn't it beautiful? It went across the whole sky in a perfect arc, but I couldn't capture that with my camera. The best part was everyone in the apartment complex coming out to just watch it. One girl, especially, was very excited. She had come out of her apartment to take out the trash or something, saw the rainbow, squealed, jumped up and down, ran back into her apartment, and spoke (loud enough for everyone to hear): "You all need to come see this rainbow!"

It reminded me of being at home with all of you.