It's Over!

Well, that's it folks. It's officially over. I am now a college graduate! :) It's funny because I don't really feel any different and I don't feel like I know anything more than I knew before. In some ways I feel even less knowledgable than I did before. I definitely learned a lot but I just don't remember any of it...lol. There's just so much to know and so much to learn that a college degree really doesn't mean a whole lot. Great, I have a piece of paper now that says I know all of these things about the humanities and about music. But really I only know a fraction of all there is know about those things. Don't get me wrong. I am so grateful for all of the things have learned and that I will be able to take with me throughout my life. I truly have been enlightened and maybe not so much in facts and theories. Rather, I have been enlightened in how to become a better human being. I have learned to be more patient, tolerant, humble, involved, giving, and understanding. Even though I've been at BYU, which has the reputation of being a "bubble," I really have learned a lot about other peoples' views and about the world (yes there are people with varying views and beliefs at BYU). My testimony has been tried and strengthened and I've learned that I need to not be so gullible and that professors are not all-knowing. I can't always take what they say as the gospel truth. I've learned that I can only know truth through the confirmation of the Spirit. That is the only way to truly discern truth from lies. I've learned to be open to what others have to say and at the same time still hold fast to what I believe. I've learned that sometimes we have to do things we hate in order to progress and become better. I've also learned that I have a LONG way to go to become the person I really want to be. So I've decided that a college education is completely about knowing the material on the tests. It is also about finding out who you are and how you are going to go about living in this world, deciding what part you will play. I have decided that I am going to play my part as best as I can. I want to be part of making the world a better place!

As a sidenote, I just wanted to say that Christmas was wonderful! It was so nice to be home and have Nate there with me. We had fun relaxing and playing. He was really excited about the GPS system he got for Christmas from his secret lover ;)....lol. I got earrings, a scrapbooking kit to scrap my graduation, gloves, a 1 GB SD card for my camera, a battery charger, the 5th Harry Potter movie, chocolate, and a couple of gift certificates to go shopping from my parents and Nate. I'm really excited about shopping! Nate and I also got the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD Treasure Hunt game from Mom and Dad. All in all it was great! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!

Thanksgiving Break

I don't know about the rest of you, but my Thanksgiving was great! I love that holiday. It's always such a fun time, especially because you get to be with family and people you love. For the first couple days of break I got to be at Mom and Dad's house. On Tuesday Mom, VJ, and I went shopping at the mall. We had a lot of fun. It was so great to have VJ here since it's been a year or so since I've seen him. Just being around him made it feel more like home because it brought back memories of when we were growing up. That night we went to Gandolfo's for dinner and then watched Bridge to Teribithia.

The next day we did more shopping and then Cody and Jayla came over. Jayla and I went to Target for a while (gotta love shopping!) and then came back in time for dinner. Cody and Dad were out helping a lady in the ward with some electric things so they weren't there with us for dinner :(. But Maurvene was able to come over and we had an enjoyable time together. It was almost like Thanksgiving before Thanksgiving. Later, after Cody and Dad came back, we played video games and then played Skipbo, a family tradition (well at least just playing games). We also all participated in recording music for Cody and Jayla's website www.ohsnapbands.com. That was pretty fun.

Then on Thanksgiving I left really early in the morning to catch my flight to Seattle to spend a few days with Nate and his family. I had SO much fun up there! We had dinner at the church by his grandma's house because his aunts, uncles, cousins, and even his aunt's family came (who Nate didn't know). There was about 50 people there, but the food was amazing and the company was great! One of his uncles even made ribs and they were to die for! After dinner, Nate and I went in the chapel and sang and played because his grandma really wanted us to. A bunch people came in and listened for a while. I even got to sing a duet with one of his aunts who is a wonderful singer. It was awesome!

The day after Thanksgiving Nate was really anxious to get the Christmas tree up so he and his dad started the project. I helped some too. The whole tree didn't get decorated before I left, but it was still fun to see a lit Christmas tree. We also went to see Enchanted with his parents, his sister Stacey, and her boyfriend. It was a really cute movie and has some catchy tunes too. We decided not to shop on Black Friday, mostly because we wanted to sleep in and also because we didn't want to deal with the crowds.

On Saturday Nate and I took a walk along this trail by his house. It was beautiful, but very chilly. We went because I had to do a nature experience for my class. Then we went to the bishop's house to watch the BYU vs. UofU football game. It was great! The best part was that the bishop and his family were Ute fans so they had everything all decked out in red. They even had cookies that said "Go Utes!" and red and white M&Ms saying "Go Utes!" and "Beat BYU!" Well all their decorating was futile, because, of course, BYU won!! It was a lot of fun.

The front yard was even decorated. Someone in the ward had put BYU stuff all over the yard. It was great! They even wrote "Converted Cougars!" on the sidewalk with chalk.

That night we made gingerbread houses because I guess it is a tradition with his mom's family. I actually saw some pics of them doing it as little kids. So us and all of his sisters made houses. I'd never made them with real gingerbread, but his mom is an amazing baker so she made some and that's what we used. Ours is so cute, right? ;)

On Sunday I had the most embarrassing experience of my life. Nate's mom asked us to perform in church so I sang and Nate accompanied me. Well the singing and stuff went well (Nate did an amazing piano solo in the middle that he arranged), but then as I was walking back down to my seat, I totally biffed it down the stairs!! It was HILARIOUS! I mean, it wasn't just a trip, it was a full-blown fall and I landed on my hands and knees at the bottom of the stairs. I thought I was going to die! Thankfully we were sitting in the front row so I didn't have far to go to my seat. Nate didn't quite get there in time because he was just coming around the piano. The funniest part was that before we went up there Nate whispered in my ear "Don't trip on the stairs." Oh man I wanted to just burst out laughing so bad, but I couldn't because it was sacrament meeting...lol. Nate just came down and put his arm around me just to make me feel better. It was so funny. People even came up to me afterwards and asked if I was okay. So embarrassing! Well I guess it'll be a moment to remember! On Monday we went into Seattle for a bit and walked by the ferry port and the piers. We also had some fish and chips. Then we went to the airport and flew back to Utah. Overall it was a great trip!!