brick oven pizza

ok...so this happened last thursday. but it's a story that is worth telling. i can't believe i forgot to post about it! it's not going to be the typical list because it's just one story, but i promise it's good :)

so last thursday, i walked to school and got to my first class. as i sat down, of course my mind wandered to lunch (where else would it go?), and i realized that i forgot to pack myself a lunch. tragedy.

fast forward to the break i have between french and marriage prep. it's two and a half hours long. the perfect length to eat something and do a bit of homework. so i decide to see what kind of cash i have for some trail mix or something from the vending machines. tragedy struck again as i realized i had left my wallet at home.

now i was stranded in the jkb with a growling tummy and no money to purchase a snack. i sadly sat outside my marriage prep class, waiting for the class that was in session to be let out. i started doing homework, but couldn't really concentrate on it because let me tell you, when i get hungry, i can't really do much of anything except think about food.

then, suddenly, two professors stepped out of a classroom holding boxes of brick oven pizza. BRICK OVEN PIZZA. they walked up and down the hall, offering the leftover pizza to the starving student. i can't tell you how many times i said thank you or how big my smile was. or how happy my tummy was to eat some of that amazing hawaiian pizza. 

and that is how i got free brick oven pizza for lunch on thursday. it reminds me of this quote from spencer w. kimball:

"god does notice us, and he watches over us. but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs."

it would have been so easy for those professors to take home or throw out the five or six slices of pizza they had left. instead, they decided to give them away. i don't know if they were inspired to do that, or if they had been planning on doing it all along, but whatever the reason, it showed me just how conscious of our needs heavenly father really is. i didn't ask him to have two professors bring me pizza from brick oven, but he knew i needed it, as did all the other students sitting in the hall. i'm grateful that he keeps his eye on me and met my needs through those two professors. hurray for pizza, nice professors, and a loving father in heaven :)

paris + snow + haircuts

1. packages from home
on monday i got two packages from home of stuff i left behind on accident, christmas gifts that didn't come in time for christmas, and some valentine's day fun.

2. interviews that go well
on wednesday i had my interview for the paris study abroad i applied for. in the email i received, i was told it would be a half an hour long and partly in french. needless to say, i was definitely nervous about the whole thing. it turned out really well though, and i love the professor and his wife. it was so easy to talk to them, and i had no problem expressing myself in french (prayer works people). it actually went ten minutes longer than it was supposed to because we were chatting up a storm. i took that as a good sign.

3. PARIS!!
AHH!! I AM GOING TO PARIS THIS FALL. turns out the chatting actually was a good sign. so yeah! i get to go back to the city that stole my heart. i am so excited. i'm sorry, that didn't convey my enthusiasm. I'M JUST SO FREAKIN EXCITED. kinda like aunt sue in the snl skit "surprise." yeah. just like that.

4. megamind
i stinkin love that movie. it is so funny! every single time i die. "that was weird for everyone. you hugged him when you meant to hug me." hahahahahahahaaaaaa. if you haven't seen it...well go see it. steph, joel, jalyn, alec, and i watched it last night and it was super fun. i may or may not watch it again tonight. who knows.

5. snow
ok. well...this post is going to be a complaint. because every once in a while, you have to complain. you know? today steph, karen, and i went apartment hunting. it had been raining this morning, but it stopped for a while so we decided it would be a good time to go. we grabbed our purses, and as an afterthought put on our coats (it wasn't too cold...), and left the house. as we were walking from complex to complex, it started dumping rain and then hail and then snow on us. i swear the flakes were as big as my fist. it was cold. steph and i didn't have hoods. or an umbrella. my boots started leaking. my socks and feet were cold and wet. we were out there for two and a half hours. meh. however...

6. prospects
...we found some good possibilities for next year! that's good! we have to discuss them and talk about it, but we have options.

7. haircuts
i have been talking about chopping my hair off for like a year. a couple of times i've thought that i wanted to do it, but when i would call to make the appointment, i would chicken out. today i finally decided it was time. and i had to do it today or it wouldn't ever happen. so there you go. i cut off five inches of my hair. it was time for a change :)

8. peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
last night jalyn and alec made enough of these bad boys to feed a small country. (i told alec that today and he responded, "oh, we already did that. those are just the leftovers." haaaa.) anyway. i've been eating them. and dunking them in milk. it's been a good day.

9. lindsey
i got to see lindsey today! we talked on her couch while she drank a jamba juice and recovered from a fever. i miss talking to my old roommates. it was so good to just sit with her and talk like we used to back in penrose. (which has been demolished, by the way.)

10. heather is home!!
heather went night skiing with some girls in our ward. that means i haven't seen her since 2 this afternoon. and she can't talk until midnight because she has to take an online quiz. so i'm sitting here in our room, blogging and listening to music and looking at photos of paris, waiting for her to finish because all i want to do is talk to her!! hurry up van wagenen!!

not only did i cut my hair, i also gained a few iq points.

masdflkjg yeah

dear blog,

the past two days have also been spent battling a cold. it's been interesting, consuming mass amounts of cough drops, sneezing a lot, and coughing. but i have found some wonderful things the past two days! would you like to hear about them?

1. french with a cold
speaking french is much easier when you have a cold, because everything is already nasaly! today i had to give the prayer at the beginning of french class, and it was very nice to not have to worry so much about pronunciation.

2. haley and lauren
two of my lovely friends. i saw them today and we talked and discussed and laughed and had a wonderful half an hour together (too short in my opinion).

3. once upon a time
sadly, i am all caught up on once upon a time. however, that is also a good thing! it kept me entertained when i was bored (come on, there's not a whole lot to do the first week of school). and i really like it.

4. my new class
foundations of education. seriously, best class ever. it's so weird. i love it. my professor believes in a holistic approach, so we have no tests, and i don't even think we have a final. we don't have a syllabus, either haha. he likes to say things like, "i love the way women sneeze. it just makes it so much more apparent that they are the superior gender" and "i don't have to focus anymore, i have my doctorate. do you know what a doctorate is? a very high threshold for boredom." but he also says brilliant things. he was telling us about tailoring to each student's needs, and he said "there is nothing standardized about our relationship with jesus christ. if we are trying to follow his example, we must do as he did and build relationships with our students that will be the best for them." right? epiphany anyone? yeah.

5. jalyn giving me nyquil so i can sleep tonight
that one is self-explanatory.

well, that's all for today! sleep tight, blogging world! i know i will (thanks to my (jalyn's) nyquil).

battle

today has been a battle. against my immune system. but there have been some good parts! here we go:

1. class schedule
i figured out my class schedule. finally! yayayay!

2. talking with kelly
i got to see kelly! it was so fun! we talked about christmas break and caught up about al kinds of stuff. i hadn't seen her in a long time, so it was great.

3. i made dinner
don't worry, it was all cooked. i made beef stroganoff at jalyn's request, and it was quite delicious if i may say so myself.

4. i love my classes
today i had french and marriage prep. i loooovvveeee them both. especially marriage prep. dr carroll has so many great insights.

5. talking to stephenie
i talked on the phone to stephenie. it was fun to catch up with her, too :)

so here's to getting over my cold, and surviving the rest of my classes this week!

today

hello, family, friends, and whoever else sees this blog! here's a blog about today.

1. sleep
i'm grateful for sleep. i got to sleep last night and it was great. also, i think i was having weird dreams, and that i was talking again, because when i woke up my throat was scratchy. (maybe it was just the beginnings of a sore throat, i'm not sure, because it went away and came back with a vengence a few hours ago.) anyways, i'm grateful for sleep haha.

2. mission prep
i love that class! today was fun, i got to sit next to my friend thomas from my spanish class last semester. we learned about the worth of people, and let me tell you, some of brother bott's insights are pretty mind blowing. it's incredible to think about how small and insignificant we are, yet we mean everything to god. i love that.

3. once upon a time
today i've watched 2 episodes of once upon a time. (don't worry mom, i've done my homework, too!) it's seriously so good. heather and i are obsessed. we can't help it!

4. fhe
tonight for fhe we played the name game. we each wrote down three names (famous people) and put them in a bowl, and then we basically did charades with them...the first round we could describe them in full detail, the second round only with one word, and the third round we could only act it out. it was super fun.

5. cough drops
yes. i am eating cough drops. and i am grateful for them. that is all.

have a wonderful rest of the evening :)

i included this gem. enjoy :)

roomie time

i love spending time with my roommates. here are some of the things i've loved doing with them yesterday and today.

1. basketball!!
yesterday we went to the byu v usf basketball game. i wondered about if i should feel conflicted, since it was my school against san francisco and all, but i decided to not. we beat them, easy. it was fun to be there! i love how excited everyone is to be there. steph, karen, heather, and heather's friend jayden went, and we had a great time. we even took jumping pictures!

2. watching movies and tv
we've been really good at watching movies and tv this week. we've watched:

• leap year
• 27 dresses
• one tree hill
• letters to juliet
• more one tree hill
• tarzan
• once upon a time

see? we're really good at it.

3. laughing hysterically
we're good at this, too. like that time steph and i discovered we were twins on accident. or when steph danced to phil collins before we watched tarzan. or when karen makes the best faces. or when alec climbs into the trunk of karen's car. or when karen gets in one of her moods and she yells at everyone and it's hilarious. so good.

4. going to chuch
i also went to church with my roommates today. i love that we all have the same values and that we have the same priorities. we know that no matter what, every sunday at one o'clock, we will be at church. (well, unless we're dying or something, but you get the idea.) it's a good thing.

5. sweets
let me tell you. we have an entire counter full of christmas candy that is mostly karen's, but some of it is mine, too. and we've been eating it all week long. it doesn't help that we've also had ice cream and that jalyn made cinnamon rolls today (she made them with mashed potoates?!). they were delicious, despite being made with potatoes. i was skeptical, but i've been converted. we just can't stop!! it's so bad...but so soo soooo wonderful. haha.

so that has been yesterday and today! i think that since i'm back on a regular schedule, i'll be back to blogging full time again :) sorry for the hiatus!

catch up and mustard

get it? that's a pun. i'm punny. haha. so...i've taken a bit of a break from blogging because, well, i have. no real excuse other than i got lazy haha. so now it's time to play a game of catch up and mustard to get you caught up on some of the good things that have been happening!

1. new year's eve partay partay
on new year's eve we had a party at my aunt carrie's house. it was classic, with silly games and ridiculous quotable quotes. my favorite part was when we played this game with a basketball hoop hat on top of our heads. we had to throw little balls into the hoops on top of our heads...it was very silly. grandpa said, "we have a strange family." and i'd have to agree. but i wouldn't want it any other way :)

2. i'm back in provo
i'm back! i have been for a while, actually haha. but i'm here! my aunt maryn gave me a ride home from the airport, and i stopped at redbox and got three movies. i watched them all. plus one more. i'm good at movies, people.

3. walmart trips
these are always highly entertaining. karen and i spent our afternoon there on tuesday, talking to old women who needed help finding granola bars, purchasing mass amounts of food and a crazy bulldog shirt, and getting stuck in line behind not just one, but TWO extreme couponers. this seems to happen to us every time we are in walmart. it never ceases to be entertaining.

4. school started
so i've got some awesome classes with awesome professors, and i'm really excited about this semester! i'm taking french, mission prep, marriage prep, physical science, and adolescent development. 14 credits sounds wonderful compared to the 16 i took last semester (two languages at once is hard!). i'm excited to learn and be in class again.

5. nap time
i am so good at the game nap time. i can't even tell you. i'm really really good at taking like 30 minute naps when i get home from class. it works well for me. steph is good at telling me that i'm winning the game (if i wake up on time) or losing the game (if i sleep too long or too little).

6. the hilarities of living in jefferson 37
like the time jalyn closed alec's head in the door on accident. i can't stop laughing. every time i think about it, i die. for reals.

i'll be better about blogging in the future! :)

hiatus

i'll be back in full swing tomorrow. but for tonight, i'm playing with my family.