you wish you knew everything we do

I'm just going to put some snippets of what we've been up to lately...

Making snow angels

Admiring downtown Rexburg in it's Christmas glory

Parking ourselves at the pizza buffet and stuffing our faces for two and half hours

And cramming into the smallest of small cars so we didn't have to walk home.

Family pictures by our very own fireplace

Going to the last BYU-Idaho devotional in the Hart Auditorium. 



And not documented:

Watching six movies in one weekend. We didn't go to bed before two all weekend.

Presentations galore

Studying our little bums off for finals

Crocheting hats (oh wait, we have put pictures of that)

Beginning the dreaded cleaning process for white glove on Saturday!

Trying not to think about the fact that the semester is ending

Enjoying our last few weeks together!



snowflakes and ornaments

Have I talked enough about how much I adore my roommates? A few nights ago we started decorating our living room with Christmas decorations--glittery paper snowflakes, streams of lights, a pink barbie christmas tree, and a legitamite fireplace made of paper. See for yourself:

Also, there may be a little bit of a crochet fetish happening in our room. It's cool. :)

I made that hat on Whitney's head. Winner, I know.

oh what i love

We got back to good old Rexburg yesterday afternoon at about 3:00 after an incredibly uneventful ride, for which we were all grateful. Today as I have walked in the snow and cold to all of my classes, attended devotional, had dinner with my wonderful roomies and done homework, I have been kind of overwhelmed with things that I love about being here at BYU-Idaho, especially on this day.

I love my morning routine, it is the same every morning and I love that

I love seeing my best friend Whitney in the bed next to me

I love having direction as I go to my classes

I love that I was wearing a hat that I made that kept my head nice and warm

I love musicianship, as always

I love that I connected with a kid that went on splits with the missionaries in Pennsylvania--specifically my best friend missionary in Pennsylvania

I love coming home for 5 minutes and exchanging hello's and kind words with my roommates

I love going to Book of Mormon and feeling the spirit and having my questions answered

I love that I'm finally figuring out the best way for me to learn in Science (although I hate that it's taken me this long to figure it out)

I love nice boys

I love going to devotional, I love that Whitney saves us a seat and that I get to sit with people that I adore :)

I love that the devotional speaker talked about specifially what I needed to hear

I love my roommate Ashley and how silly she is on pain killers

I love that I'm going to Bajio this week...

I love that we didn't even care that we were late for choir

I love that I practiced FOREVER today and that I sounded GOOD

I love eating dinner with my roommates

I love that I felt ready to focus on studying things after dinner

I love that our home teachers came over tonight, I loved their lesson and I espcially loved that they gave Ashley a blessing. It felt so wonderful to have the priesthood in our home.

I love the priesthood and the knowledge that I can turn to any of the great guys I have met up here if I need to.

I love writing letters to my best friend

I love the vending machine runs to get orange juice--to no avail

I love the overwhelming feeling of the spirit that pervades every space on this campus. I love feeling God's presense so closely. I love receiving witness every minute that He is there for me and loves me.

I love this place.

i spoke too soon

Well, thanks to the sudden appearance of ridiculous amounts of snow here in Utah and in Rexburg, our trip back to school has been delayed a day. We are now leaving tomorrow. Am I missing classes? Yup. Am I missing study time? Yup. Am I happy about that? Not at all. But it's better to arrive home in one piece, rather than in pieces. These things have a way of working themselves out. It's all good.

the thanksgiving break

I can't believe that I've been home for over a week. It feels like I never left, which I knew it would feel that way. It's been SO great to be home, and I'm actually really sad to be going back to Rexburg tomorrow. But I'm sure I'll jump back into the swing of things up there.

I had some goals for this break, some of which were accomplished, some...kind of not. Let's take a look:

1) Find a job: Well, I applied to a ton of places including Old Navy, Target, Pizza Factory, Seagull Book, and more, but applying somewhere doesn't secure a job for the winter. If you want to pray for me to help me out, I would love you forever. :)

2) Make some money: There's a family from my home ward that love to have me babysit their kids, and I knew that if I let them know I was interested, they would have me come over for a job. Sure enough, they had me do an overnight job (which they pay REALLY well for) Friday-Saturday. Success.

3) Be with my family:): I loved getting to be with my family. We went to Cafe Rio and to a play, saw Harry Potter 7 (which I LOVED), watched a lot of Friends, obviously Thursday and Friday were huge family days and it was wonderful to see all of my extended family. I loved the family time this break.

4) See some old friends: I was anxious to see how this would turn out, if I would even want to associate with some of the friends I left behind, but I got to see and reconnect with a lot of my really great friends! I had amazing chats with some of my favorite old YW leaders, got to be there when my childhood best friend blessed her baby and spent a lot of time with her and her husband, visited my Chamber Choir, got some frozen yogurt with a couple of my favorite girls, got to spend some time with people from my old "groups" from high school, and visit with more of my friends one on one. I'm SO glad for all of the great people I got to visit, it made me feel loved and happy.

5) Exercise every day: I bought a month pass to the rec center because I told myself that if I went three times, it would be worth it. Yeah, I went once. Fail. Although I did do the temple run on Saturday which was AMAZING. The last time I did that run, I couldn't even do it, I had to cut it short. So at least I did that...

6) Eat a TON of food: You know, this didn't actually happen. Apparently my appetite as shrunk a huge amount since I went to college, because I just didn't have the desire to eat a ton. My thanksgiving feast, one helping that I couldn't even finish. I know right?

7) Crochet like a maniac: Which I already do at college. On Thanksgiving, my Aunt Ruth taught a bunch of us how to crochet hats. They are darling, I've made 8. I just get cooler and cooler.

8) Study a little every day, and practice at least 3 times: Major fail. I studied for like 20 minutes and got through about half a practice session until my mom came home and said "let's go to lunch" which I clearly would rather do. This is bad news though because finals are SO SOON and along with finals are JURIES which I am not even close to being ready for but here they come. Oh bad bad news.

9) Rest and recover: The resting part, not so much, but the recovering was enormous. It was so cleansing and healing to be surrounded by so many people I love and who love me. I adore my roommates and neighbors, but there was just something about being around these people who have known me for years that had a really good affect on me. I don't necessarily want to go back and study hard and focus, but I feel like I can now. I'll make it just fine. :)

Prepare yourself Rexburg, I'm coming home.

I love that I walked in my door, and my brother went back to watching Smallville, so I had to force him off the couch to give me a real hug.
And I heard my mommy squeal my name and run out of her bedroom and give me the biggest hug.
And my daddy was so happy to see me, and I may have squeezed his guts out a little.
And then my two lovely sisters ran up the stairs and gave me huge hugs.
And I just cried a little bit but they were such happy tears.
I am so happy to be home for a little while.
I love my family so much.
Also, my mom thinks it's weird that Cammie and I are in love.
Can I get some feedback on this?
Is it weird to call your sister your lover?
Ok, when I put it like that it is a little...

it's finally come

I cannot even believe that I am going home today. It's been a month and a half since I've seen my family, but the thought of going home and being with them feels like it hasn't been nearly that long. I've tried really hard since I've been up here to truly live up here in Idaho, and not dwell very much on my home in Utah, it's hard for me to be in two places at once. So all of my focus has been on living up in Rexburg, and I haven't thought too much about my home and stuff. I can't really describe it. I can't believe that I haven't seen my families faces for so long. It just doesn't make any sense to me. It feels like I am always connected to them even though I am far away, and living a life that is entirely different than they are living. But at the same time, I feel so close to them, like I could just pop in and say hello any time I wanted to, even though I really can't. I don't know. It's all very strange.
I'm also SO excited to just have a break from school, and this routine. I love routines, I love being consistent and having a set plan and sticking to it, but sometimes it gets really monotonous. I'm so looking forward to not having to think about school work and homework. To have a time to just play and be with family and friends.
I hope that going home will be a good experience, and that I won't miss it up here too much, or that I won't dread coming back. I hope that at the end of the break it will be easy for me to get back into the swing of things up here. Because I really need to focus the last three weeks that I'm up here. Because I'll have finals, and juries. It's going to be intense for a while. But for now, I just get to have a break. Thank heavens.

a note to my lover

You are the one person I can truly be myself around. When I am with you, I don't care about anything else. I can be completely insane and I know that you love me anyway. We spend long days participating in nerdy activites such as crocheting together, and once we stayed up til a ridiculously late hour playing Alhombra.
You let me lay all over you on long car trips, and you don't mind when I caress your leg with my foot. Thank you for letting me be all nasty and sprawling.
I am coming home tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see you, to be with you, to hug you til your guts pop out. You will always be my lover, good thing we get to be together for eternity.

one of those cliche gratitude posts...:)

Today I am grateful for:

Random strangers who take us to the grocery store

The melting snow and warmth from the sun

Dragging my butt on the treadmill, even when I don't want to

Singing "Come thou fount" in Women's choir--the same one we did in Acapella

Handel's Messiah

My healthy body

Missionaries

My lovely roommates

Muscianship II

The promise that no matter how messed up our country gets, the righteous will be protected

My best friend Whitney

5 days til I get to go home for Thanksgiving

An incredible family

That I've made it through this day despite not sleeping well

The things I learn in master class

The wonderful examples of the people around me

Getting to know people better.

An exciting life ahead of me

Talents and abilities

The ability to learn

The chances to be humble, even though they are not easy

My nerdy crocheting ability

Scarves

My gray jacket with inside pockets

Colored Goldfish

Having a microwave and mini fridge

The organized church

My calling

A warm comforter

The Holy Ghost

The Atonement

The chance to read the scriptures

Journal writing

Emails

Pictures of the Savior in my room

My heart sister ring ;)

Love Love Love

What are you thankful for today?

like it's the last night of the world

After a night filled with frozed custard and great company, I came home to my favorite roommates sprawled on three mattresses covering our living room floor and proceeded to have a sleepover in our own dorm. It was absolutely fantastic. I will love these girls forever.

so move funny face

5 hours later.

the day you knew would arrive is here...

You'll survive.

for my sister

I love all three of my siblings SO SO MUCH. We have our fights and silly disagreements, but when it comes down to it, I know we are always a family and I have so much love for them. I miss them so much being up here and I love when any one of them will text me and I love talking to them on Sundays. They are so great.

I especially wanted to dedicate this post to my darling sister Cammie. She is 16 and a half and one of my best friends. We used to fight ALL the time when we were younger, but something changed when she came to high school. We instantly had something in common, but we participated in such different activities and interests that we never felt the need to compete against each other. Cammie is very much her own person. She has what she likes, and she never tries to like something else to please others. She does her thing, and she does it well. I have truly hated being away from her since I've come up here. Nothing makes me more happy than getting a text from her. However, as hard as it has been to not see her every day, it has also been a really good experience for us, and made us even closer, as it has with my other siblings as well. I've really been proud and awed as I've watched her live her life from afar, as I've heard about her friends, and her school life, and seen how much she is blossoming and finding her place, how much progress she is making and what a strong person she is becoming. She is SO AWESOME and I will love her forever. Sometimes I despair a little when I think of the friends I have lost, and the friends I have now knowing that there's no way I can keep every person in my life. But then I think about my sister and remember that I never have to let go of her, I can keep her in my life for ever and eternity, and same with the rest of my family. I love them so much! If you don't know Cammie, get to know her, your life will be better for it.

I LOVE YOU CAM CAM!

i haven't left my dorm yet today.

It's been one of those days where I would really rather just stay in bed all day long. So I did.

I'm reading Eat Pray Love--the one that they just made into a movie with Julia Roberts. It is a good, good book. I've missed just doing nothing all day but read. I haven't done that for months.

On the other hand, it kind of sucks that this weekend has been a total bust. I guess that's my fault. Sometimes I lack the motivation to go find anything fun to do. It's definitely something we have to create here, it doesn't just fall in our laps usually.

Stake conference tonight, I'm ready to go be spiritually edified. That will be good for my soul.

I wonder how on earth we are going to get ourselves to church tomorrow at 9 am when we usually sleep in until ridiculous hours on Sundays. It's safe to say that we will be taking some epic naps tomorrow afternoon.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that now is the time to be patient, that I will never get to have experiences like this again and I need to make the most of these awesome opportunities.

I'm incredibly blessed to have such wonderful roommates, especially my room roommate and best friend Whitney. She's a really good sport when it's 1:30 in the morning and she jsut wants to sleep but I want to talk. Thank you Whit, you are a blessing in so many ways.

I'm gonna go have some hot chocolate now. It's 50 cents at Pita Pit and it's divine.

november week

I haven't really posted on here this week because I feel like nothing's been happening that is picture worthy, or that people would find interesting, but I just had the thought, "why should I care about that? I don't blog for them, I blog for me." So here are my thoughts for this lovely first week of November:

Firstly, the weather has been INCREDIBLE. I don't understand. I am living in Rexburg Idaho where it snows all the days and is negative temperatures. We have not had snow here yet (I don't count the 1/4 of an inch that melted in an hour, sorry Jayna and Krista, I know it got you excited). This week it has been 65 degrees. Blessing? An enormous one.

I have been a studying machine this week. It's been fabulous. I love it when I can just focus for hours and hours and feel so accomplished with what I am doing. On the other hand, I took another science test that I studies SO hard for, and yeah. Got a B. If you tell me that's good I might hurt you.

I love being healthy SO much. I have been off of treats (minus the weekends) since September which feels so good. I've been trying really hard to work out. On Monday I went to the gym and told myself, "yeah I'll do 30 minutes on the treadmill which will be awesome." I felt so good the entire time, that I ended up going for 45. I know it's not much, but it will get there.

Things with my major are going really well. I still adore my music theory class, especially since we started secondary dominants. I am just so comfortable with everything we do in that class which makes me feel really good about myself. Also, my voice lessons are going super well too. I'm learning TONS and improving every day and growing so much. I can tell that Sister Ashby is proud of the things that I am doing and she is getting really nitty gritty about things I need to change and fix. It's a good feeling when I go to a group lesson and am given important things to work on that will improve my tone and resonance, while the other girl is being coached through technique--notes and rythms and stuff. I still have SO SO far to go, so much to learn, so many bad habits to break and new things to implement, but I am starting to really like practicing and really like my lessons. This is a very good thing.

My best friend Jared comes home in 6 weeks from yesterday. It didn't really hit me just how SOON he is coming home until I wrote him yesterday and fully comprehended, oh my gosh. He will be HOME! I have missed that kid so much. More than anything, I have just missed having a best guy friend that I did everything with and talked to about everything, with no pressure of "does he like me? do I need to act a certain way? blah blah blah?" Oh I am so excited to see him.

What an excellent week this has been. And tomorrow is Friday. :) I'm going to the temple after classes and then taking a test...and then whatever else the Rexburg wind brings me.

midnight 5K

Last night Ashley and I ran a 5K that started at midnight. It was a costume party basically. It was really fun. I'm disappointed with my time because I tried to pace myself too well, that I held back the whole time...There were no mile markers or anything so I had no idea how much further I had. But it's cool. It was just fun to get out there and run it! I love working out and being healthy. It's such a great feeling. Thank you Ash, for getting me to do this!

Ashley after her awesome finish. She ran this in 24 and something minutes. I know right? She is such a rockstar.

Whitney said "make a power pose!" this is what I came up with. Yeah...? It's cool, I was happy to be finished. :)

full fridges make us feel fearful

This week has grown more and more desperate as we've consumed all of our food and no trips to the grocery store. Tonight I finally went and bought us some shtuff.

Filling up the fridge with grocerys seriously was the best feeling in the world. We had nothing. No bread, no milk, no yogurt, no apples, no goldfish. It was not ok.

Whitney was really happy about the easy mac I brought home to her. It has cool shaped noodles and everything.

Good thing we let ourselves run out of food before shopping...

masquerade

Saturday a bunch of us went to the masquerade ball. It was so fun to get all dressed up and make masks and look pretty. :)

what even is today?

Yesterday (Friday), was wonderful. I didn't have my 9:00 class because it had been an exam week. So I went to the Rexburg temple with my roommate Ashley. I thought that I would surely be back in time for my 11:30 class, but no. We were in the temple for over 3 hours and got out at 12:45. I felt that it wasn't a bad thing to miss my easy American Foundations class to go to something much better. :) It felt so great to be in the temple and sit and relax and think spiritual thoughts. The rest of my day was so fantastic. I just sat around, napped, went to the health center and was pronounced clean of TB, did some homework. Oh it fabulous.

Our ward had an activity planned that night, a costume party. So we got all festive and went. Yeah, it was pretty lame, very few people, no food etc. But we had a blast because we made it fun. We just did crazy awkward things and everyone wanted to be our friends because we clearly were having the most fun.

yup, this was as awkward as the picture portrays.

After gracing the party with our presense for about an hour and a half, we proceeded to walk all over campus in our costumes, taking strange pictures until my camera battery died. It was quite an adventure.Huzzah for Friday night's in Rexburg. 

music theory

I LOVE my music theory class. Thanks to AP music, I got to by pass the first three classes and get into musicianship 2. And I adore it.

I love analyzing a piece of music, and knowing the form, what and where the cadances are, if it modulates.

I love dictating. Hearing an excerpt of music and writing down the notes and rythmn. So exhilirating.

I love part writing. I love that there are rules that you have to follow and a formula to plug things into.

I love knowing the qualities of chords and how they resolve.

I love hearing any random two notes anywhere in the world and being able to say "Perfect 4th", "Minor 6th" etc.

I love the feeling that comes when I get my assignments back, listen to the groans behind me and examine my high score.

I love that I am a freshman in a class of second semester sophmores and I am leaving them in the dust.

I love the intricacies of music, the incredile complexity of it, the beautiful, recurring patterns, the math, the consistency of it.

Heavenly Father is amazing for creating something so wonderful as music.

oh good heavens.

If you know me,
you understand that
this was a big deal.

I was informed today, by a message that prevented me to log onto my student account, that if I had been out of the country, I needed to get a Tuberculosis skin test. Good thing I've been to Mexico. So, trooper that I am, I trooped up to the Student Health Center, where they proceeded to GIVE ME A SHOT that created a scary, bleeding BUMP on my arm that I'm not allowed to rub, scratch, or cover with a band aid. Oh good heavens, it was scary stuff. I am not ok with shots and such things. Although, be proud, I didn't faint.

Yuck.

i don't care, i'm doing a long post. with lots of pictures.

Yesterday was my very first choir concert in college. Whitney and I are in the Women's Choir up here which has been pretty fun. It's no where near the same experience as Chamber Choir was in high school. There are over a hundred girls in Women's and it's just different. It was also different going to a concert and knowing that we didn't have family there to support us. But the concerts went well, we did a good job. And our wonderful roommates came to support us. It made me so so happy. It was great having them there for us. :) I love them.



Me, Whitney and Scotty



When we got home, there was flour just chillin on a garbage sack, so we proceeded to make flour bombs out of old nylons and then had an epic war. It was spontaneous greatness. We were so caked in flour by the time the bombs were depleted. What fun in was. 

I'm not joking. We were covered.

The whole random group. See those two on the very left? We don't know them, they just joined in.

All of our adrenaline led to some seriously funny picture taking.

And jumping



This is my best friend Whitney. I love her.


I love when you think "oh, tonight's going to be kind of crappy, I'll go to my choir concert, watch a movie and go to bed." and then BAM! There's a flour war. It's cool. Good times. :)

dear cute science boy,

I would not object if you asked me out on a date.

love,
Amberly

a post about my mommy and daddy

I hate to admit that when I lived at home, I didn't give my parents enough credit for everything they do. Now that I live on my own, my appreciation for them has grown so much and I miss them a lot.

My Daddy: Me and my dad are a lot alike. We handle situations very similarly, we want people to treat us a certain way, we don't like to be left alone, we like to say sorry when we mess up, the list goes on. I love my dad so much. He has always been so great about setting a good example of what a righteous priesthood holder should be, and how the head of a family should be. He has so much respect for my mom which shows me how I want my future husband to treat me. I have never ever doubted his love for my mom, me and my siblings. He is an awesome provider, he always goes to work and has such a good attitude about it. I have never heard him complain about going to work. I got to work with him for three years off and on and it was so awesome. I loved seeing him at work all the time, it just made my day. I loved seeing him in his work environment and watching the way that people reacted to him and seeing what an indispensable employee he is. His co-workers have so much respect for him because he knows what he is talking about, and he is so genuinely nice to everyone. He is friendly to every person and he likes to joke around and find things in common. He has always encouraged me to be my very best self, he has always let me know when he is proud of me, he supports me in everything I do. He always found teaching opportunities and helped me grow into the person that I am. I love my daddy so much.

My Mommy: I have always had so much respect for my mom and tried to be like her. I have so many memories of how she raised me, and now I look at those memories as techniques that I will use for my own children. I'll be honest, we went through the typical teenage mother-daughter stage which I really regret now. But even though I was being moody and irritating, she did her best to give me space and wiggle room instead of coming down hard on me and stifling me. She always recognized that I needed my independence and she cultivated that in me. Something I love about her is that she was always teaching me to do things for myself, rather than just doing them for me. She gave me so many opportunities to learn and grow so that I can truly be independent. My mom is such a strong woman. She sets her mind on something and she devotes herself to it until she has gotten what she wants. She is so smart and she is always learning new things and challenging herself to become even better than she already is. She is so friendly and will go out of her way to make someone feel comfortable. She is a wonderful mother, teacher and friend. She has helped me become the person I am today and I love her for everything she has done for me and my family.

My parents are so incredible. I wish that everyone was as lucky as I am. They both, together, raised me into this person that I am now. And I have flaws and I make mistakes, but fortunately they have also fostered in me a deep love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and shown me what to do when I mess up, and taught me how to be a disciple of Christ. I am eternally grateful that they raised me the way that they did. I am so glad that they taught me to be self-sufficient and didn't coddle me. I'm glad that they let me make messes and taught me how to clean up after myself. I'm grateful that they love each other. The love that they have for each other is what I look forward to in my own future. I think that if I can find a fraction of what they have, I will be so happy. They are going to make such wonderful grandparents, I am so excited for my children to learn from them and be taught by them, as I have been.

I miss my family every day, but I have been prepared to live on my own by my wonderful parents who saw that it is necessary. They have given me the tools that I needed to be here, being my own person and loving where I'm at. I have so much love and appreciation for them and I'm so lucky to have them in my life.

on a sunday...

I very much love Sundays here. I love having church at 1:30. We sleep in for long amounts of hours, and then get all cutsie and go to our singles ward. I love the ward, I love relief society, I love my calling. I love going with my roommates and friends. It is so fantastic.

After church, we sometimes hang out in our living room and be silly. And take a bunch of random pictures of ourselves, and Ashley's fish. :)



Whitney likes her Mike Mug.



We like each other.





Ashley really loves her fish





We eat donuts sometimes



We decorated our door for Halloween. It looks fantastic. Yes, we are aware.