WORK work WORK work WORK

(Quick side note: May is over!! And being 20 feels exactly the same as being 19.)

Summer breaks don't exist anymore. It's either all school or all work and never much play. But it's all good because I have one of the best jobs a person could ever ask for. I get to work alongside some of the most amazing people and do work that I understand and am actually good at. I started working at Modern Optical again for my summer job on May 1 and tomorrow is June 1. It has officially been a month. Since I was basically picking up from where I left off last summer, everything has come back to me pretty easily. However, there are a few things I've learned in this single, short month I've spent working this summer.

First of all, why on earth do people not have answering machines?? I spend over 2 hours every day calling people to remind them of their appointments or to tell them their glasses/contacts are ready to picked up. Nothing is more frustrating than having to call the same number 80 bajillion times throughout the day because there is no answering machine. Why even have a phone if you aren't going to ever answer or have a way I can leave a message?

Adding on to the previous thought, why on earth do people not listen to their messages?? There's always a few calls every day where patients aren't happy because they haven't heard if their glasses are in yet. Looking at the paperwork, we called them 5 days ago and left a message. But nope, instead of checking their messages, they choose to call and get angry at whoever happens to answer the phone that day.

Also, BOGO sales are insane. We ran a special for the month of May that was of the buy-one-get-one-free nature. While it attracted the attention of many customers, it was extremely chaotic for all of us in Optical, especially the last couple of days. Nothing brings in customers quicker than a sale deadline approaching.

Lastly, working with people is so entertaining. Of course, we get the occasional person who is having a bad day and chooses to take it out on us, but for the most part, I love interacting with everyone who comes into work. It's so fun to watch little kids get glasses for the first time and see their reactions to what the world really looks like. It's also fantastic to interact with old couples who say the funniest things to one another. They have so much zest for life, it's amazing. Now, some quick pictures that have made us laugh:

You may have not wanted to see this, but neither did we.

Didn't even miss his afternoon nap :)

In closing, my job is the best. I do not like getting up early and working all day long, but I've happened to find a place that makes all that not so horrible.

And with that being said, I'm off to bed. So I can wake up early and work all day long.

Catching Up

The last time I blogged was February 2. And to put it simply, quite a bit has happened since then. This post is my attempt of remembering as much as possible.

February 14: ahh Valentine's Day. While this holiday has always bothered me (let's be honest: it's all about consumerism), this Valentine's Day was especially horrible. As I tried to be a good student, typing up my notes while listening to a lecture, my computer died. Not thinking much of it, I tried to turn it back on. My computer then died again. And again... and again. My roommate drove me over to the Mac store to get it diagnosed.

February 15: I got the call that my computer was donezo for good. I said a sad goodbye to $1300 as I bought a replacement MacBook. The only positive outcome from this whole situation: free printer and photoshop. Both of which are still unopened...

March 16: through the 24, I was able to go to Hawaii. BYU doesn't have a spring break, so I just skipped an entire week of classes for this vacation, which made many people skeptical. But I did it anyways. Hawaii was fantastic. Skipping a week of the nasty Provo snow and spending a week in beautiful sunshine with some pretty amazing people was fantastic. It was my first time ever really swimming in an ocean, so I got beat up pretty good by the waves, but I did manage to mostly avoid getting sunburnt. (If you wanna see pictures, look at facebook. Because I can't choose one or two favorites from the entire trip to post here).

March 25: From 12:15 (midnight) until 4:30am. After arriving in San Fransisco at midnight, me and my group from Hawaii were all pretty hungry for dinner. Three of us went outside of the security gates because we had heard an announcement saying that the Subway located just outside was open 24 hours... and that was the only food location open anywhere in the airport. Unluckily for us, apparently security doesn't open until 4:30am. So we didn't get any sleep that night. We sat outside security watching How I Met Your Mother until we were finally allowed back in to the airport. At which point Bryce had to be fingerprinted and the security officers lost my boarding pass. Long night.

April 14: Finals started :O I was definitely feeling the pressure as the week I skipped in March finally caught up to me. But then, I started banging finals out like it was nobody's business. Geography? 100%. New Testament? 96%. Marriage Prep? 97%. ASL? 98%. Leisure? 98%. I somehow managed to pull off a 3.94 GPA, thankkkk gooodnesss.

April 21: I left my home away from home and drove the 12 hours to Ellensburg with my sister. All was going smoothly until I got pulled over in the middle of Idaho for going 3-4 miles over the speed limit... After getting chewed out by a grumpy cop, I managed to get away with just a warning. The ride continued to go well and we all made it home safely.

April 23: Lauren and I got our wisdom teeth out. Yes, we got them out at the same time and no, we weren't that entertaining. Want to see the videos? Ask my mom. Lauren talked about how pretty the nurse's purple pants were and I talked about chipmunk voices and pillows under my elbow.

May 1: I started up my summer job at Modern Optical. Can I just say that I love love love the people I work with? They are fantastic. I can't think of anybody else I'd rather be forced to see five days a week :)

 I can already tell that this summer is going to be a long one, but a fantastic one. I'll try to keep you updated, but let's be honest... I sort of suck at blogging.

Time for Reminiscing

SO.

This past weekend, two of my roommates and I pulled off the most epic surprise birthday party for our other roommate. What do I mean by epic? This...

Everyone hid in 350+ balloons to surprise her.

Love these girls :)

Anyways, that was irrelevant. This epic party did help me realize that I am less than 4 months from being 20. TWENTY! I have no idea how all that time passed, but it's been a pretty great life. I obviously don't remember everything about my life, but I started reminiscing about some of the best times.

I remember the day that my little sister was born. I had just gotten back from recess when my grandparents stopped by school to tell us we had a baby sister. I was so excited that I started packing up my stuff, but they made me wait until after school to go see her. Being far away from my family is hard, but it makes the time at home even better.

Sisters.

I also remember the day that we got Weasley. I went with my parents to pick him out while Lauren and Melissa were at rehearsal for a play. This little guy was smaller than a shoe the day we brought him home, and my sisters had no idea we suddenly had a puppy. They came home and he wandered out from behind the couch and we all were in love with him. He's absolutely spastic, but by far my favoritest dog ever.

Try telling me he isn't adorable.

I've been missing high school quite a bit recently. Weird? Maybe, but I really loved high school. Every now and then, I pop in one of my cheer DVDs and get super sad. Haha it just reminds me of how much fun I had. I loved spending countless hours with amazing girls. We made so many memories and had so many inside jokes that no one else can truly understand. Cheer helped me get through a difficult part of my life. I was at a game when I first heard about my dad going into the hospital and I was with them when he was moved to Seattle into the ICU. These girls supported me through so much. They will never know just how much they changed my life.

:)

Another aspect of high school I've been thinking about a lot is theater. Those who knew me in high school know how much of my life revolved around music and being on stage. I will never forget the feeling I got whenever I stepped on stage and the lights hit me. Without a doubt, I miss "Thoroughly Modern Millie" the most. If I could go back and replay one day of my life, opening night would definitely be a contender. The feeling I got after months of preparation was amazing. I miss being on stage with all my closest friends. I miss putting everything that I had into three hours. I miss frantically running backstage and having five people help me change because I had to be back on in 30 seconds. I miss being physically and emotionally drained because of rehearsal and shows. I'd do just about anything to get back up on the stage at MMS and perform. It breaks my heart knowing that auditorium won't be there long. It was home to some of the best moments of my life.

Gimme Gimme

Lastly, BYU has torn down A. Richards Hall :( This place was my home for a year and I experienced quite a bit living there. It was my first home away from home. It will always hold a special place in my heart and I was sad to see it go. New dorms are for pansies. It's all about living in the ghetto.

Well, there you have it. I'm so grateful that I've lived an amazing life so far, and I'm hoping I have more experiences that I can reminisce about later in life. So far, so good :)

Life Lessons

Life is great. The past week-ish has been absolutely fantastic and I've learned quite a bit through all of it. Maybe I haven't learned anything life-altering, but it's enough to get me by. Want some examples? Cool.

1. So we went ice skating. The rink used in the 2002 Olympics is a couple blocks from my house, so my friends and I decided to head on over there. It was an eventful night for sure. I learned that my hip hates me skating. It was very upset with me, and still is somewhat. I also learned how to deal with a person with a concussion, mainly how difficult it is to keep them awake when they want to sleep. Yes, my roommate got a concussion, but she survived and is alive, yay! Last thing I learned at the ice skating rink was how awesome it would be to be 5 years old again. We met a friend while the Zamboni was cleaning the ice. His name was Carter and he had his birthday party earlier in the day. He told us about his awesome spy watch, legos, and various other gifts he received. He also guessed my age. I learned that to a 5 year old, I look 51.

The group after ice skating :)

2. This may not seem important, but it is. Lately, my apartment has had a full stock of cutie oranges, or clementines, at all times. One day, I sat down at the table and turned on my Scentsy and started to peel one of these oranges. The smell from the orange and the citrus flavored scent in the Scentsy was amazing. So yes, I learned this week what my favorite smell in the entire world consists of.

3. Another thing I re-learned was about the greatness that is Zupas. I went to this delicious restaurant with a friend from last year to catch up. For those of you not from Utah, Zupas is heaven on earth in restaurant form. It's a small soup, salad, sandwich place that is absolutely mouthwatering. I hadn't been to Zupas since late November, so it was a definite treat getting to go there again. I learned that Zupas is definitely worth the money, even if I have to forego a meal later on.

4. Re-learning things is the same as learning right? I remembered this week my love for the music from "Les Miserables." I was in a huge line in Geography, waiting to pick up a paper, when the guy behind me started singing the song "Look Down." I immediately pulled up my Les Mis playlist on my way home and listened to numerous songs. I can't stop. For those of you who haven't seen "Les Miserables" yet, go. Now.

Marquee from "Les Miserables" this last summer in Seattle.

5. I learned that balloons are awesome. I knew this as a kid, but they've returned into my life this past week. There was a birthday party for a guy in my complex and the apartment was littered in balloons. Because of this, some of my friends and I decided to try popping balloons in various ways. Chest bumps, stomachs, and throwing basketballs were some of the chosen techniques. I also put a balloon on my nose and it got stuck. I learned that balloons hurt your nose. Last night, balloons returned again. This time, the goal was to catch the end of the balloon between your lips. It appeared to be much more difficult than expected. I also learned that a guy over 6 feet tall can kick the ceiling.

Balloon on my nose. And roommate.

6. The last thing I learned is probably the most important. I learned that studying is important. Duh, that's obvious, but for some reason, I forgot that this week. I had two quizzes in my classes this week and forgot about/didn't want to study for either. So I got a 60% on a quiz in leisure. LEISURE. I didn't even know that was possible, but I just laughed and hopefully will bump it up next time. The other quiz was in geography, which I completely forgot about until I got to class. Luckily, I was early and brought my book so I did a quick review, but still missed a few easy questions. Oh well, life goes on.

Those are the most important six things I've learned recently. I'm sure there are many more life lessons to come, but these will suffice. Now I'm going to go not study and eat a cutie next to my Scentsy :)

Standard "School Just Started" Post

Starting school after Christmas break is WAY different than starting in the Fall. In August, we all buy new clothes, return to old friends, and move into ghetto apartments that are not even close to being worth the amount of money we pay for them. Coming back in January is much worse. You have new socks, which are great, but not as awesome as new clothes. You come back to friends you haven't seen for two weeks. Yes, I missed my friends, but it's more exciting to see people when you haven't seen them in months. And lastly, you come back to an apartment that's just as messy as you left it. So even though I was not looking forward to it much, I'm back in the great city that is Provo, trying to enjoy the beginning of a new semester.

First things first, apartment 112 has a new resident! While I was very sad to lose Margo to her study abroad in New Zealand, I was very excited to meet our new roommate, Angie. She is the perfect fit for our apartment, and I can't wait to get to know her even more throughout the semester. I also quit my job at the MTC because it wasn't working out too well for me. So I'm even more poor than I was last semester.

Classes are actually going way better than I would've ever expected. Here's the quick recap:

New Testament: I am so blessed to go to a school that encourages and requires study of the gospel. Although we haven't gotten too far, I know I will love this class. My professor teaches with a Spirit that can't be described. I can't wait to delve in deeper in this class.

Weightlifting: My roommate, Gen, and I decided that we would try this class out together. We have one test, which I'm probably taking tomorrow, and other than that, we get credit to go exercise twice a week. I'm very excited and grateful because it's frickin freezing outside and I lack motivation when it's cold.

Leisure in Contemporary Society: Yes, I am in a leisure class. What to we learn about? Pretty much nothing. We study what people do for fun, and I love it. The homework is super easy because I can relate to all of it. My professor is really interesting to listen to as well. I'm sure this class will be one of my favorites.

Preparation for Marriage: Laugh all you want, this class is going to be great. It is exactly what it sounds like; we learn how to prepare ourselves for successful marriage. While it is such a BYU type of class, I can tell that it will benefit me for the rest of my life, way more than physical science or math classes would.

Geography: yeah, not too excited about this one.

American Sign Language: I ended up in this class because I had to drop another one, but I am so excited. I have only attended two days of class and it is already my favorite. I have it as my last class on Mon-Thurs, so it easily becomes the thing I look forward to in order to get through the rest of the day.

Pretty much, I lucked out this semester. It should be my easiest and most beneficial semester at BYU so far. I can't wait to get more into the good stuff in each class. OH! Also, I don't have classes on Fridays, wooooooooooooooo!! I plan on attending the temple every Friday morning with my roommates, going to the gym right after, and then volunteering at a local elementary school in the afternoon. I can't think of a better way to spend my days off.

That's pretty much all that's gone down in the past week. Hopefully the rest of the semester is just as fun as this first week has been. We'll see.

Oh also, in reference to my last post, I can't not eat chocolate. It's a legitimate problem...

My January 2nd Resolutions

I hate New Year's resolutions. Why do we need a holiday in order to make goals and resolutions for ourselves? Why don't we just make these goals when it's most important for us? For me, I've decided that instead of having a New Year's resolution, I will record some "January 2nd" resolutions. I make my own holidays.

1. First and foremost, I will try my best to live for today.

I'm a planner. I like things to be organized, even if the mentioned activity won't happen for multiple days. For example, I would usually decide that since I'm now blogging, I will blog every Tuesday between certain classes. However, I'm not going to plan unimportant things. Or I'll at least try not to. Yes, I will still be crazy organized and annoyed if something planned doesn't go according to said plan, but I will do my best to pick my battles and focus on things that actually matter.

2. Finish reading the New Testament and the Book of Mormon.

I honestly can't think of a more important goal than this one. I want nothing more than to strengthen my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Reading these books filled with doctrine is the best way to accomplish this goal and keep growing.

3. Time for the stereotypical resolution: work out more.

Even though the goal is stereotypical, I'd like to think my reasons are not. Yes, it'd be awesome to be skinny, but to me, working out isn't for drastic results. I just want to be able to live a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. If I get myself into the habit now, I am much more likely to continue working out as I grow older and my life gets more complicated. Which leads me to the next resolution...

4. No pop, minimal sugar, more vegetables.

Healthy lifestyle means eating healthier. I've gone without pop for months in the past, but lately, it's become a habit again. Luckily, I also realized what a waste it is. As one of my friends said, "I'd rather not have the calories from a pop and eat a cookie." While I agree wholeheartedly with this statement, I'm also going to try to cut back on excess sugar. I'm addicted to chocolate. Anything that has traces of chocolate and is kept within a certain radius of me is destined to be eaten. I'm going to try to replace my cravings for chocolate with more fruits and vegetables, especially the latter. Eating healthier will not only improve my physical body, but it will improve my attitude as well.

5. Lastly, I want to be more outgoing.

When people first meet me, they tend to think I'm either extremely rude or emotionally unattached. It usually takes me a while to warm up to people, but I'd like to try to change that. Maybe my personality will make someone's day or lead me to a new friend, but I won't know unless I open up and become more outgoing. This will probably be the hardest of my five resolutions for me to keep, since I am pretty closed off emotionally until people know me. 

Well January 2nd: there you have it. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to these resolutions and see some improvement in my life overall. If more come to mind as time passes, I won't wait for New Year's to roll around again. There's no better time to improve than the present.