!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! INTERNSHIP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those who don't know, I was offered an internship by the Church, working in the Family Search department. I don't know a lot of the details yet, but I'm pretty excited.

A bird...pooped on my head

So, I went to the temple with Tootie last Saturday morning. It was very enjoyable. As we were leaving, we walked under a tree and I felt something land on my head. I just thought it was a rain drop so I reached up and brushed it away. When I looked at my head, there was a streak of white on it. I was like "What? No way." And I finally convinced myself that a bird had decided that it need to relieve itself right when I was walking underneath it. Yes. It does happen. I never want it to happen again.

A Sudden Realization

I was sitting in class earlier this week (CS124), in which my professor was giving a demonstration on the lab due on Thursday. Every couple of minutes from the beginning of class, the beginning of the "Charge" song would play. After a while it got very irritating and I kept thinking to myself, "Why doesn't whoever that phone belong to put it on silent?!" It was very frustrating and I was just a little annoyed. Just now, I connected my newly acquired equipment for said class and guess what it did as soon as I plugged it in to my computer? It played the "Charge" intro. Then a couple minutes later, it played it again. This jogged my memory from Monday and I figured out what had been making the noise throughout lecture. No wonder my teacher didn't get mad--he knew where it was coming from! It all makes sense now. And there's my sudden realization for the day.

Fun Times

So, it's been a fun last few weeks. Lots of adventures. Sadly, not a lot of pictures. We went up to the Piggs over President's Day and had a blast. It was so much fun to see them and just relax for a few days. I was very proud of myself because I was able to get all of my homework done before going up there. Which meant, of course, that I could actually relax and not worry about school. We had fun playing with the kids and spending time with Kristi and Chris.

I had a physics test that week after President's Day, which I did pretty well on. Much better score than my first test. Didn't have another test until this last Monday, which I got 100% on. Yep, that's right, 100%. :)

Last Friday, Jess and I and a bunch of friends went to see a Vocal Point concert. If you don't know, Vocal Point is a men's accappella group here on campus. They are phenomenal. Our home teacher is in it, so that's how we heard about it. Anyways, it was a great performance. Here's the link to their website: http://www.byuvocalpoint.com/ There's also some fun clips on youtube. Anyways...

Things are going pretty well here in Provo. Can't really complain. Well, I could but I'm not going to. :)

Bored out of my MIND

I'm sitting here in the computer lab, waiting for help with my CS 142 lab that's due today. I've been waiting for well over half-n-hour for a ta to come in. Evidently there are more important people than me on the help list. I'm almost done with the assignment there's just a couple pesky little problems that I can't figure out. So I thought to myself, "Jessica, why waste all this time just sitting here?" so I decided to check my email, facebook, and everybody's blog. And still no assistance so all of you guys get to hear about my experience. Isn't that fun?
So the lab I'm working on is writing methods for a credit card. Luckily, I don't have to write the driver because then I would be sitting in this chair even longer, which would NOT be cool.
I had an enchilada for lunch today, along with an orange. I made two batches of enchiladas last Saturday for this specific reason. It was pretty good but I wish I had cooled them off in the refrigerator before I wrapped them individually because the tortilla was a little soggy.
GOOD NEWS: I finally got a calling in my student ward. I'm the new "mom" in my FHE group. Our old mom went to Peru for an internship this semester. I haven't had to do much, mainly delegating assignments for FHE. I texted "dad" last night to see what the plan was but then went to bed early. Well, he called about an hour later and woke me up. It took all my concentration to stay focused on our conversation and then he asked at the end if he had woken me up. I said "Maybe" and he felt really bad. I didn't really care because we needed to figure out a plan but I hope I wasn't too incoherent throughout. Anyway....................................
Still waiting for help
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Hope everyone is doing well.
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OH! Jennifer and I are hoping to drive up to Rigby this Friday and spend the weekend with Kristi because Monday is President's Day. We have to get several shifts off at the MTC because for some strange reason, they rescheduled the Tuesday shifts to Monday and visa versa because we have Monday classes on Tuesday. Why they did this I have no idea--they didn't do it last year and I'm really frustrated because its just one more thing to worry about. Oh well, hopefully even if we don't get them off, we can talk to a manager about getting excused.
How I'm sure everyone is sick of me rambling on so I'll go ahead and stop. BTW, I'm still waiting.........

Provo Adventures

I needed a break from studying so that means you guys get an update about our lives. And pictures because I bought a new camera! So, here it goes.

On Saturday, we went with some friends to go see Unstoppable, which was very good. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine acted were great together. We got this free poster which is now on our wall.

These are some pictures of the "math room" I made for my History of Creativity class. It's a room that depicts the history of math. I was pretty proud of it and got 100% on it.

These are some drawing Jessica did for her Drawing class. She's got quite a few others ones but I'm not sure which ones she wants posted.

After the movie on Saturday, we filled the car up. We noticed that they guy in front of us couldn't get his receipt. With that in mind, when I went to get mine, I looked in the receipt printer and noticed that I could see part of the receipt. So, I got a card and used it to grab the end. Then I proceeded to pull out the last 5 or 6 receipts that had printed. I tore off mine but Jessica insisted that we get a picture before I threw the rest away.

Catching Up

Well, here's a little update from the Twins. :) Finals ended well for Fall Semester and we both got decent grades in our classes, though not the straight A's we were hoping for. We went home for Christmas and had a great time with family and friends. It wasn't nearly long enough before we had to trek back to Utah. After giving various people a bunch of money for rent, books, and food we started school on Tuesday. The first week has gone pretty smoothly with nothing exciting happening. I'm taking a bunch of math classes which I'm excited about but which will also be a lot of work. Jess, now that she's decided on a major, is taking a few classes that will allow her to eventually apply for that major. Well, I think that's it. Hopefully we'll update a little more frequently this semester instead of just having these short brief ones that don't really tell you what's going on. :)

Theme Song

Our theme song for finals week is "Uprising" by Muse. The chorus is especially relevant.

They will not force us.

They will stop degrading us.

They will not control us.

We will be VICTORIOUS!

That's right finals. You will be gone by the end of this week, and who will be victorious? Yeah, me. Take that.

Finals, AKA The Week of Death

Starts Monday, December 13th, 2010. The end.

A Happy Post

This past week has been amazing. BYU beat Wyoming, I got 98% on my physics test, saw Vocal Point perform, and carved pumpkins. Oh, and we're going to have a Halloween Party on Saturday. I can't wait!

Major--Computer Science with animation emphasis?

So I've been doing a little research about a major and haven't really gotten anywhere all semester. A couple have successfully not been completely kicked off a list, but I just couldn't seem to even pinpoint ONE that I would like. Today, there was a Major Fair on campus that I decided I should probably go to, if just to tell Mom I was doing something. Anyways, I talked to the Computer Science person, asking him about the Animation emphasis, which I thought sounded really cool. Its a combination of the computer science specialty of programs but also has an artsy side. So, I'm thinking of declaring it as my major. What do you all think? I'm planning to go in a talk with a counselor before I actually declare anything just to get some more advice, but right now I'm kind of excited about this. My only fear is that I'll totally stink at it. Hmm....Really cool thing: I could possibly have a job working on animated movies.

Finally A Break

So, this round of mid-terms are all over. Thanks goodness! Now we get a little break from tests but the homework is all still there. Hopefully I'll be able to relax this weekend. BYU football finally won again last Tuesday against SDSU. It was a fun game and was made all the better by that fact. Just so you all know, our birthday is in 38 days. So, start thinking of what you're going to get us. :)

Random Thought of the Day (October 7)

So I've always wondered what it meant when words were italicized in the Bible. My New Testament teacher provided me with the answer on the first or second day of class. When the translators were translating what is now referred to as the King James Version of the Bible, they would italicize words they guessed the translation on. Here I was thinking it was emphasizing the word but its their best guess at the correct translation. Interesting. Now everytime I come across an italicized word in my NT reading, I instantly think about this. Random thought of the day. :)

FHE, School, and Football

We've had a few fun FHE activities lately. Our first one while here, we were put into groups and given a scripture story. Then, we had to take five pictures that portrayed the story and every person in our group had to be in the picture. It was so much. And last night was our first "family" night. We did the generic "get-to-know-you" and then played a game. We were in a circle with one person in the middle. The middle person had to say something they haven't done and everyone in the circle who had done it had to get up and switch seats. It was a lot of fun, especially when there were guys standing after someone said I've never....shaved my legs, plucked my eyebrows, and worn a dress. I was hoping for some stories but we didn't get any.

Anyways, school's going well. Jessica took her first test today and I have mine this week. This is the furthest I've ever gotten in a semester without taking a test.

We went to the first home football game this year versus University of Washington. It was a good game and everybody was screaming. I alm

ost lost my voice! It was especially great because we won and I could brag about it to people back home. At halftime, they had all of the former all american quarterbacks there along with LaVell Edwards. Elder Holland was also there w

ith some other people who I didn't know. It was funny because Elder Holland got a lot more cheers than some of the quarterbacks. But is was also cool to see all the guys I've only heard about from others.

School Again

So, we're back at school. Back at the Y. We are all moved into our new apartment (856 N 160 W Apt. 1 Provo, UT 84604). Our roommates are all pretty cool and we all get a long. Classes are challenging, as I suppose they should be, and we're both just working and doing homework most of the time. Jessica is enjoying having me around so I can help her with her calculus homework. I guess I picked the right major! :) Anyways, I think that gets all of you up-to-date with Jessica and me. Can't think of anything else so wait for more updates. I'm sure we'll do plenty of crazy stuff this year and you'll hear about it.

Shayli's Sleeping Habits

So, Brenda and Family have been here for a couple of weeks as I'm sure you all know. I figured, since they aren't updating their blog, that I'd stick this picture up on ours. Actually, I'm not even sure Brenda knows this picture exists. Enjoy!

This is what I found on my bed coming home from work one day. Oh Shayli, you are always making me laugh!

A Job....FINALLY!

Thought I'd let you all know that Jennifer and I were offered a position at Frito-Lay, pending a drug test. Its a part-time packaging position. If all goes well, we will start training on June 14th. This will be a great job for us because they will most likely hire us next summer too, because that is their busiest time. College students work well for their demand. Even over Christmas we might be able to get a few hours in. I'm so anxious to start now that I have the job. A little over a week is all!

For those who care

As some of you know, I'm taking a creative writing class this semester. So, for those of you who even care about this, enjoy. Here is some of what I've done so far.

I wrote a personal essay about my "first college date" when our apartment did a dinner night with one of the boy apartments in our ward. Since its 7 pages long, I wont post it.

For our poetry unit, we had to write five poems. Here is the elegy I wrote for grandma.

FOR THE LOVING DEAD

The bright Spring sun shines down upon the gathering,

A group of friends and family, some quietly mourning, others celebrating

A life of love.

In a quiet, calm cemetery, set in a lone countryside—

The resting place for our beloved awaits.

Most know the happiness awaiting the righteous above,

Others know only sorrow in their loss.

Beautiful lady,

Engulfed in linens, surrounded by her legacy,

Remembered by loving words and memories.

Earlier in life, love returned to a broken heart,

But all too soon, she’s left alone again, the result of

Fighting a losing battle.

Always diligent, always strong, never selfish—

Caring for those around her.

Each week, she cleaned the church she loved, making it sparkle

Never neglected, but always lit with brilliance, cared for by

A loving heart.

Teaching her young children how to work hard

And stay diligent to what is good and true.

Four hour drives just to see those she loves

Trips to the store, climbing trees, eating dinner.

Always waiting

Arms open wide for precious children to run

And be enveloped in a loving embrace.

But life takes a toll. Even one so full of service. All remember—

Loving moments, gentle hands, independent of others.

Defiant of death.

Nine long years drag on, each becoming a little slower

All at once, it becomes too much to resist.

Oh, but all can see it now! A beautiful reunion

Between husband and wife many years apart. Her perfect spirit

Part of heaven.

Sadness on earth felt uncertainly with the knowledge of her happiness.

Her influence remains for all to feel. She loves all, even in death.

I also liked this one I wrote about the Great Wall:

THE GREAT WALL

The landscape drifted by, unchanging.

My eyes searched every inch, straining,

Hoping beyond hope that I would be the first to catch

A glimpse of the ancient relic.

Sitting on the cool bus

Trees and bushes rushed by, obscuring

My view of the hilltops.

Finally, a glimpse—a section

Jutting up from the smooth horizon,

Overgrown by years of nature,

Reclaiming its hold on the scene,

All majesty of bygone years stripped by Her power.

Slowly, the sad remnant sank back,

Hiding within the hills that embraced it.

The bus slid to a halt and I stepped off,

Struggling to breathe in thick air.

The trail wound up, climbing ever higher,

The end lost somewhere in the hills.

Forcing my tired legs on, I reached the long stairs.

With each step, my legs protested, questioning

The logic in which I continued my quest.

Quickly—almost instantly—my shirt clung

To my skin. I stopped and looked up longingly,

Anxious to continue, I knew I must rest.

Trudging on, stepping on each worn step,

I reached the summit and walked out into bright sunlight,

Eyes stinging with perspiration. Before me spread

A wondrous sight. Extending on for miles,

The pile of stones represented a legacy,

All but lost to the historic country.

Flowing with the landscape, ever expanding,

The Great Wall stands proudly,

Its gray stone contrasting against the green background.

It has continued on for years long past

And will continue on when we are gone.

I also wrote a short story completely in dialogue, but I'm still editing that one. For my final project, I wrote the first chapter of a novel. Actually, it was suppose to just be a short story, but half my class thought it was a chapter, so thats what I'm making it. I'm a little stressed out about that one because its worth half my grade and I don't get a revision (like with all the other assignments).

Soldier Hollow

Last Saturday, our ward went tubing at Soldier Hollow. It was so much fun! We were on the mountain from 8:00-10:00pm, so it was dark except for the lights. On the "tow-trip" up, I would look up at the stars, which were really clear if you put your hand up to block out the bright lights. For about the first 45 minutes, they were playing the BYU vs. Kansas basketball game over the speakers. Although it was hard to hear clearly, we all knew they lost. :( Oh well. Most of the time we would go down in groups since there were so many of us (two wards were there). It was just a blast!

Update

This is just for you Brian. :)

Life here in Provo, Utah is continuing to roll on. Classes are going well, if sometimes a little boring (biology~cough). Jennifer and I finally signed a contract for housing next Fall/Winter. We will be staying at University Villa, not that half of you know where that is. I made banana cake and banana bread last night, and they turned out...barely. I was so excited when we went to the Creamary on Tuesday and they were selling ripe bananas for $.25 a pound. I've been wanting to make banana bread but the last bananas we bought went too ripe before I got the chance. Here was the answer! Bananas at more than half off and I didn't even have to wait for them to ripen! Perfect. What else...we went to our first rugby game last Saturday. First sport I've gone to in a while that I had not idea what was going on. We tried to prepare for it by watching "Forever Strong" but decided it was like trying to learn football by watching "Remember the Titans." It was still a lot of fun!

Well, thats about it from BYU!