Glamour Girls

Proving to the world that you are never too old to play dress-up!

While spending Thanksgiving in Tetonia at our grandparents' house, Amber and I decided to rummage through our Nana's old clothes and jewelry. A ring here, a bracelet there, a little more lipstick, and . . . voila! Glamour Girls. I must say, her collection of wigs added a lot to our fun! I thought I'd try my hand at being a blonde . . .

What can I say? Girls just wanna have fun!

P.S. I think I'll stick to being a redhead.

The Famous Organist

For those of you who don't know . . . I play the organ! It's a new hobby I have picked up over the past year. These are some pictures of me playing for Devotional at school.

For those who do not know what Devotional is, I will explain . . . every Tuesday at 2 p.m., the school pretty much shuts down for one hour. There are no classes offered at this time and the stores on campus are closed. Students and faculty gather together to watch the Devotional in which a church or school leader is invited to speak. They speak on various topics such as the temple, religious freedom, gratitude, and the atonement. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to receive spiritual instruction in addition to our secular learning. It is a time to be edified and uplifted by the spirit. Every Devotional has an opening and closing hymn as well as prelude and postlude music and on November 3rd, I got to play! President Clark (president of BYU-Idaho) announced my name in the program and we even made eye contact at one point! :)

I played in front of thousands of students . . . really loudly. What a rush! I was so nervous, but it turned out so well and I received several compliments about my playing from friends, classmates, and teachers. I felt like some sort of celebrity because people were taking my picture and coming up to compliment me. My organ masterclass teacher publicly announced that it was the best devotional playing of the semester! I was so thrilled, but embarrassed at the same time.

I have been asked to play at a graduation convocation for the College of Business and Communications on December 18th (the night before I attend my own convocation!). I am excited for another opportunity to play in front of lots of people and to use my talents to serve!

The organ is yet another thing I wish I had discovered earlier in my college career so that I could have had the opportunity to take more lessons and become more advanced.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend a university where we are able to receive spiritual instruction and to incorporate the gospel in class every day; where we can start class with a prayer, and read scriptures in my health classes, and talk about how the restoration of the gospel relates to things like economics! I am also so very grateful to live in a country where we have freedom to choose how, when, and where we worship. How blessed we truly are!

No Pain, No Gain

I recently discovered that BYU-Idaho has diving night on Mondays and Thursdays from 9-10 p.m. and I have started going so I can learn how to dive. It is so fun and exciting! I love the feel of a good dive. Even though you can't see yourself, you know it was good because it just felt right. I like to think that I look graceful in the process as well. :)
Tonight I went again with some good friends. The discouraging thing was that I think my first few dives were the best. As the night wore on, I got progressively tired and it showed in my diving. I was trying to master a pike dive tonight, but had a difficult time. There's one problem . . . I haven't quite learned how to tuck my head yet. The result: my face smacks the water a dozen-plus times within the space of an hour. And it hurts. But, for better or for worse, I keep doing it. Practice makes perfect right?
One time as I came up out of the water my eyesight was blurry, light spots were flashing before my eyes. I suddenly had a flashback to one of my favorite childhood movies - Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. Thoughts of it motivated within me the desire to have my eyes checked, just to make sure there's no permanent damage.
After enough facial torture for one night, I retired to the bathroom and took a good look in the mirror. I cleaned off the remaining makeup to reveal the true damage: my right eyelid is tender, red, splotchy, and slightly swollen. My left is not so bad, but also a little pink. I have a lovely new bruise on my elbow too. Is diving supposed to be this damaging? My fear is that I will wake up and my eye will be completely swollen shut, or that I'll show up for my date tomorrow night with a black and blue face. I wonder if I should continue this painful pleasure over the course of the next few weeks. Do I want to risk having a beat up face for my graduation pictures? Maybe I should just learn how to tuck my head and all my problems would be solved. :)
It saddens me to think that I am discovering new and exciting things about BYU-Idaho just as I am about to leave. Time goes by so quickly. After my diving adventures, I came home and slipped into my new, cozy BYU-Idaho sweat pants (courtesy of my dear friend Bekah, and another thing checked off of my Christmas wish list!) and sat down to write this blog post. Oh how I am going to miss this place!

Officially the nastiest picture of me ever, but it illustrates my point.

A Flame Rekindled

After an eight-month absence, I returned again tonight to the world of country dancing (thanks to my good friend David who was great enough to take me)! I forgot how much I loved it! It was like something dormant inside me was revived. I feel like a star when I am out on the dance floor.
As I stood in the room and watched the couples pass by, I was taken back to the days when I was a freshmen and first started coming to the weekly country dances. I was reminded of favorite songs and favorite dance partners that I have had over the years. By now, most of them are married and gone, starting families of their own. How things change!
Anyway, David and I had so much fun and I am planning on going again. After all, I won't be a student here forever and always have the opportunity. Speaking of which . . . I just found out yesterday that my commencement and convocation services are going to be held December 19th! It is coming up so quickly and everything is happening so fast. Unfortunately I cannot slow down time and make my stay at BYU-Idaho last a little longer. But as much as I have absolutely loved my time here, I know that it is time to move on and start a new chapter in my life. More of my reminiscing about BYU-Idaho to come . . .

Christmas Wish List Part 2

Well, after completing my first list I have thought of several more items which I would like for Christmas. So if you didn't like my previous suggestions, perhaps there will be something on this list that you would like to get for me. :) Some things I have made easy for you, they can be simple stocking- stuffers. Oh, and since I am graduating a week before Christmas, I thought that maybe you could choose one item for a graduation gift and then another for Christmas!
So here we go - Christmas Wish List Part Dos . . .


I have always wanted a bonsai tree. I remember when I was little that my grandpa had one. I remember him taking care of it out on their back deck. I think that they are the cutest things ever!



I have recently realized that I need a new toothbrush. This came to my attention when, as I was brushing, some of the bristles came off and got stuck in my permanent retainer. Although brushing my teeth isn't the most pleasant experience at the present time, I can hold out until Christmas as long as I don't have to pay for one myself. Cheap, I know.
Not only is my toothbrush old and worn out, it is also pink. If you're going to get me a toothbrush for Christmas, please don't make it a pink one. I beg of you.



What kind of a health science major/aerobic teacher would I be if I didn't have an adequate supply of exercise equipment in my own home? Here is a short list of things I would like to start acquiring:

• exercise ball
• 10-lb. hand weights
• jump rope
• floor mat

I have the worst luck with water bottles. I can't tell you how many I have lost over the years. My favorite to date was the one that I bought at the BYU-Idaho Bookstore. It had the BYU-Idaho logo on it and the top flipped open. That was a special water bottle. It accompanied me all around Washington, D.C. this summer. Everywhere I went, my water bottle went too (kind of like Mary and her lamb). I left it at work once or twice, but never ran the risk of losing it while there. As soon as I got back to school . . . . gone.
And so I bought another one, but after a few weeks it started leaking. So once again I am water bottle-less. I even borrowed my mom's this past weekend for a school trip and I ended up leaving it in my friend's car. Hopefully I'll get it back later this week.
Although my first preference would be to get another water bottle from the Bookstore, I would be happy with any good quality water bottle that doesn't leak. And again, please don't make it pink.


I have recently formed this new obsession for playing popular tunes on the piano and singing along. I only do this when I am home alone, but I find it quite enjoyable. Thus far, I have been resorting to using tutorials on youtube to learn some songs, but I think it would be much more fun to have some actual sheet music. Here are some songs that I would like to have:

• "The Nearness of You" - Norah Jones
• "Thinking Over" - Dana Glover
• Any song by Missy Higgins
  
• Various songs by Coldplay
• Other Norah Jones songs

One last item I would like is a pair of sweats from the BYU-Idaho Bookstore. I see others wearing them and they look sooo comfortable. I always told myself that I would get some at graduation, if not before then.


Note: After reading this through, I think that I sound very demanding. Please realize that I do not expect anything and this list is all just for fun.