I love Tetonia...and other things

Well, I know you all already know, but Michael asked if I'd marry him on Saturday.

I said yes...how could I not in such a pretty place? It's so pretty and peaceful up there. Look how green it is at Badger Creek! There is still a lot of snow on the mountains, though.

Alas. Now I have to focus on finishing the semester with good grades. I forgot about an online quiz I was supposed to take, and I missed the time, so I'm not allowed to take it now. I emailed my teacher, and, much to my delight, he said he drops everyone's lowest quiz score.

Now I just have to be sure to do very well on all my other quizzes!

Sometimes I wish we could all live in Tetonia again, just for a little while at least. I know it's not the same, and it probably never will be quite like it was when we were supposed to be there--but it's still something that crosses my mind pretty often.

Anyway, I love you guys, and I hope everything is going well at home!

Well...

It's a real shame that I haven't been keeping up with such a good-looking blog!

I should be sleeping right now...but I just can't!!

I loved coming home this last weekend. It was sad to not have Dash greet me at the fence. I sorely miss that handsome boy; he was one of a kind.

I enjoyed getting to know Playboy and Sugar better, and Red is doing AMAZING. They all look great, and they seem to be really happy.

Sally is such a funny hen! It will be exciting to see how all the smaller chicks, ducks, and geese will turn out and what they'll be like.

I so appreciated having a pool once again. I loved being able to swim with all of you and ride horses with the older girls, and go purchase clothes with most of my sisters and mom. :)

Thank you all for being so patient with a silly girl who gets caught up with school and an equally silly boy. I am glad you all seem to like Michael well enough, though. I think he's pretty fun myself.

I can't wait until the end of this semester! I love learning, especially anatomy and physiology...but I really don't know how people can go to college year round sometimes. I really miss you all, and I want to just have some time with you again.

I also wanted to post a couple of pictures that Lark took when she came to visit when we saw "The Price of Freedom." I think you will appreciate these pictures; I did.

I sure do miss this girl! She was one amazing dog, wasn't she?

Says one, "I cannot believe in the salvation of beasts." Any man who would tell you that this could not be, would tell you that the revelations are not true. John heard the words of the beasts giving glory to God, and understood them. God who made the beasts could understand every language spoken by them. The four beasts were four of the most noble animals that had filled the measure of their creation, and had been saved from other worlds, because they were perfect: they were like angels in their sphere. We are not told where they came from, and I do not know; but they were seen and heard by John praising and glorifying God.

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 291

It's just been a while

I just wanted to write something, since it's been so long since I've written.

As far as Tilly, I'm glad that she is now living in the school room at home. I'm sure she loves being a mascot of sorts.

Let's see...

Classes are great. There's something about all these things that I'm learning; I love and yearn to learn more about these things everyday.

Microbiology is fascinating. I love understanding how certain things work, and how so many living things were created under a similar model, from a miniscule microbe to a graceful gazelle.

Math is a challenge, but I'm getting to the point that I only spend half an hour twice a week with a tutor (rather than two-three hours a week). Aside from the challenge, the class really is enjoyable. It is interesting to see how Brother Nygaard will respond to the many questions directed at him. One girl has English as a second language...the word problems are especially difficult, and it really is funny to watch and try to contribute to Brother Nygaard explaining what a word problem is asking.

All the vet tech classes are good. I'm supposed to do a report on hamsters before Tuesday, and I haven't started on it yet. I'm not too worried, though. The last one on gerbils only took an hour to do.

Doctor Dredge is very patient with several of us. He is very kind, and he often uses the scriptures to teach us things. Those are my favorite things--those scriptural comparisons to what we're doing.

On a side note, did you know that scientists have discovered that the heart has more nerve endings than the brain?

I will try to write more often.

I miss you all, and I hope things are going well at home. I hope the new house is getting unpacked without incident, and that Red and Dash can come home soon.

I love you all, and I think and pray about you more often than I can count!

Tilly

Alright. This has probably been my favorite part of the semester...going with my roommate Ashley to her psychology lab to watch her train her rat, Tilly.

This is when they first brought Tilly out. Tilly really loves Ashley, and was ready to come out to be trained. They'll use treats, but mostly Tilly is motivated by being where she is happy.

This is me with Tilly on my shoulder. Tilly is very friendly, and I took to her much better than I thought I would. I really have an aversion to rats, but I sometimes forget that Tilly is a rat.

Ashley and her partner, Katie, have taught Tilly to do a couple of things. One thing that Katie has taught Tilly is how to climb across from one table to another using a rope.

As you can see, Tilly really loves Ashley.

Ashley has taught Tilly how to jump from one table to another. I think she's pretty talented, especially for a rat.

In this next one, Tilly jumps again. Ashley rewards her with a Cheerio at the end.

What do you think?

the new byu-i center

For one of my classes (facilities management with Brother Anderson), I was able to tour the BYU-I Center before it opens on December 17.

It was really amazing--it is almost exactly like the big Conference Center in Salt Lake.

Do you see those shiny discs on the ceiling? They actually don't give off any of their own light! They are reflecting light from the spotlights you can see on the sides. The ceiling was so high that it would have been very expensive to purchase the equipment needed just to change a light bulb, so they put up reflective discs instead. I was amazed.

This is a room that has 10 basketball courts that can be divided and also used for soccer, volleyball, and one other sport I can't remember. Do you see the raised track that goes around it? They are connecting this part of the building to the old Hart building so that people can walk back and forth without going through the snow, and that way, the designers didn't need to build whole new locker rooms.

Does that look familiar?

The design is just like the Conference Center, only smaller. The stage has all those same capabilities...and I know you're thinking exactly what I'm thinking...

See those three rows of seating areas? That first row (where we're standing) has 100 more seats than the entire Hart auditorium (which is the current largest gathering place on campus). It looks like just the right size for Rob Gardner to come up to Rexburg!!

I forgot to get a picture of the boys' bathroom...but look how big the girls' bathroom is! It's like an airport! The boys' bathroom only had four stalls, which is why we all thought this was funny at the time. The boys' bathroom had more sinks than stalls.

I really do hope that Rob Gardner will start coming to Rexburg at least as often as he comes to Salt Lake. "The Lamb of God" would be great here, wouldn't it?

program management and the last leaves

I just wanted to show you some pictures of what I've been doing lately.

These are the last leaves of fall...since I've taken these pictures, all the leaves are gone. I thought it was pretty how these couple of trees kept all their leaves when all the others were already gone.






Aren't these trees beautiful? I like the way the lamp post is behind the reddish one--it almost looks like Narnia, doesn't it?

I thought it looked like a magical place, anyway.









...and then, there's program management. This is what we had on the study board as we studied for our final exam:



If you click on it, you can see all the ways that program management is like a bad relationship...

I don't know what the rest of the writing on the board means.

I did get 103% on that final, though!

Lark, Jessi and myself

Hello, everyone! Aren't Lark and Jessi just lovely?












It's good to have friends! (I had to put my glasses up in the picture below so I could look straight at the camera instead of at the frame of my glasses.)

The other night after my program management thing that I had to do (which was not so bad after all, I must say), Lark and Jessi asked if I would come with them to get ice cream. I figured I would. After all, the only class I had was canceled the next morning.

So, we went to some ice cream place. The boy serving us really liked Jessi's hair. Lark and I discussed whether or not Lark would look alright with curly hair. Somehow, I asked the boy if he knew about Rob Gardner (he'd been talking about music), and he had! I couldn't believe it, and we talked about music for about 5 minutes. Then we left.

What would you do if you were in Rexburg and wanted to do something with your friends or family?

Below are also a couple of pictures that Lark took of me after I was done with my program. I was very happy and excited to be finished with it, and I am so glad that Lark and Jessi were such good volunteers and helped me with everything at my program. Am I lucky or what?














These are not the most flattering photos of myself, but I figure it's all I've got. I wonder who designed that amazing poster that's in my hand?