J-Dawgs

I just have to say that this here is absolutely the best hot dog I have every tasted. There is this little tiny shack outside of campus. It's on a small hill, and has this crazy secret sauce. I've honestly never had anything like this before. Just look at this

First Couple Activities at BYU

My goodness, the homework just never stops. I feel like every time I almost get caught up with everything, I realize that I'm already behind in three or four other assignments. This past weekend I spent studying day and night just for one test, (it was all about the history of science, from Thales to Aristotle to Galileo and Newton, all in about two weeks. It was crazy, I have no idea why I'm taking that class) did fairly well on it, but now I can see that I'm already three reading assignments behind in the next unit of that class. Arghgh Not to mention being behind in a couple papers in English as well. Oh well, college just keep pelting me in the head with information. Hopefully I'll be able to retain something from all this.

I've decided that Utah is pretty amazing. This time around for General Conference (which was HUGE!!!!! It's where the Prophet and Apostles on the Earth today speak directly to us about the issues of today, just like Peter, James, John, and the other Apostles would back in New Testament times), I was able to attend the Sunday Morning session in person. It was amazing! It was like the Magic Mormon Land from the big TV screen I've always seen as a kid became real life. Like jumping into the screen of your favorite show, I saw all my heroes. I had my first stroll through Temple Square as well, it was awesome seeing so many hard working sister missionaries.

A cool thing at BYU is that ever single night there are sheap things to go do. perhaps that explains why I'm so behind in homework......Anyway I've been able to see some music performances every week for free. There's also an international theater that shows a bunch of cool films for like a buck or somehting. Then there are a million clubs always holding different activities, plus individual student congregations with their own activities running all the time. And of course there's always hiking and such. And I can't even wait until winter to try skiing or snow boarding. It's amazing anything productive happens around here.

They have a lot of sill ones here too that are a bit creative. During homecoming week they had a giant slip and slide filled with foam and blue dy. Look at this, why would anyone do such a thing? Because we're dumb.

My First Impressions of BYU

So I realize that my parents and maybe a few relatives will be the only people to ever read this blog, but I figured that if nothing else this will be a great place to vent frustration. I can get on my soapbox and rant on about whatever I feel like whenever I want. The internet is amazing!

A safe place to start off I think would be my first impressions of college/Utah/BYU. Since high school I have worked in good old Fort Wayne Indiana with my parents, and had the insane opportunity to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the wonderful land of Quebec. (For the record, throwing yourself into another country without speaking their language hurts like no other)If anyone is not familiar with this church, I'd suggest checking out www.mormon.org, it’s’ pretty sweet in English. Anyway, here I am 22 years old, bilingual, moving across the country to start my freshman year of college while all my friends back home finish up their last semesters or are starting grad school. Not gonna lie, it's kind of awkward.

It's so dry here! It's the first time in my life that I've had to use chap stick and lotion for cracked knuckles and stuff. And where ever I stand, I seem to be standing on an incline. There's so many stairs everywhere, I'm out of breath where ever I go. My knees will be shot by the time I'm done here. But the mountains are freaking beautiful. The other week I was able to climb up a mountain to a giant Y painted on a mountain near campus. The view of Provo was incredible. So I guess there's good and bad in it all. I say it's worth it.

College is completely different from what I expected. The key to college doesn't seem to be intelligence or the ability to learn, as it seems to be all about endurance. There are so many tutors, review sessions, and assistants with help on writing papers that if you would just spend all your time using the available resources you could get straight As all the time. It all comes down to how much strength, discipline, and endurance does one have before their brains explode. It's fun to see the differences between high school and college. The biggest one seems that in high school, the teacher taught while homework supplemented their lessons. While in college, the homework teaches the lessons while teachers' lectures supplement the work. Nobody bothers explaining that going into things.

Life in Provo or "happy valley" takes a little getting used to. There are so many Mormons, and everyone is so nice that it kind of freaks me out. It makes me want to explode, shouting waves of obscenities that would make the sheltered Utah girl in my Book of Mormon class cry. But I promise it's a good kind of freak out. I almost feel cheated out of the "true" college experience. No crazy roommate trying to bring girls into our room at night, no parties full of beer pong and such, and no crazy liberal hippies promoted various causes on campus. (In fact, I seem to be about as liberal as they come)

But then I realize that I've been standing strong as the weird Mormon kid my whole life so why not be in the majority for a change. My service as a missionary and adventures in happy valley will keep me rooted in religion no matter what life throws at me.

There you have it; I actually managed to find the time to write my first post. I have no idea how often I'll write, but thanks for reading Mom and Dad. And if anyone else actually read this to the end let me know, you just became my new best friend!