"I Want To Be Strong And Admit That I Was Wrong, Man."

Well, it's been a week, y'all.

Monday was a holiday, so classes didn't even start until Tuesday. Homework was light this week, which was nice, except for the fact that I put off what little I did have until this weekend, which left me in a panic to finish several papers up until about an hour ago. Not exactly the brightest thing I've ever done.

I decided to practice my culinary skills a whole freaking lot over the last week and let me just say, I am down right proud of myself. Look at what I have accomplished.

Those are dumplings. Roberts thing - reminded me of home. 

I actually made a salad. Vegetables make me sad, but I suffered through it. 

And my crowning glory... the most beautiful cheesecake on the face of this earth. It's already like 3/4 gone. I'm going to be fat.

I realize that this may not seem like a big deal to all y'all, but let me tell you what, I am no chef here. I called my mother this week because I couldn't remember how to boil eggs. Yeah. So this is kind monumentous.

And I haven't been alone in the kitchen. I've got this little guy to keep me company.

His name is the Brave Little Toaster. Or BLT for short.

Anyway. So that was my bragging for this post. I can officially cook some things sometimes.

Also, I want to share with you the most hilarious moment of my week. So I'm sure we've all heard the glorious news involving the good 'ole Justin Beibs. DUI, coke possession, egging, resisting arrest, you name it. WELL, my roommate and I were sitting around that morning and a brilliant idea came to us. See, we have this poster on our wall depicting the man himself. We decided he needed a little ink, so the convict got a tat.

#deported

I don't think I've laughed so hard in a very long time. I still find it way too amusing. Sometimes we're kind of geniuses, no big deal or anything. 

Let's see, what else has happened. Well, OH, gym news. I know you want to hear about that. So I was leaving the gym a couple nights ago, feeling all boss and such, when I feel someone touch me on the shoulder. Turn around and BAM, there's this adorable young man like right there and he's all like, "Hey, so don't want to be weird or anything, but do you want to go out with me?" So of course I said sure - we swapped numbers, etc, and that was the moment that made my day. Whether or not a date actually comes from this encounter, thank you, good sir, for making me smile. 

Mr. Hottie McHot as mentioned in previous blog posts continued to make appearances throughout the week. Unfortunately he's a Bear's fan though, which is a big of a point loss in my book. But those glorious shoulders might just make up for it - I haven't decided yet. 

So, I guess I'll get serious here for a moment 'cause it's a Sunday and a lot has been on my mind lately anyway. I woke up one morning this week and I realized that I wasn't really where I wanted to be or where I had ever planned to be. And by that I don't mean in Idaho ('cause I love it here). What I mean, is that it's been almost exactly seven months now since I've been regularly doing what I should be doing. Scripture study, talking to my Heavenly Father - I've been slacking. This past summer I got into a relationship that I should have avoided. Because of it, I prioritized things all wrong and grew further from my Heavenly Father than I ever have been. I did some things I shouldn't have, justified them and acted like they had no effect on me. Too bad that's not how it works. 

I picked up my scriptures for the first time in a long time a few days ago. I started reading in Alma and came across a verse that really hit me hard, so I thought I'd share. 

"If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed." 

How incredible is that promise? To know that we can be forgiven and fixed, even if we've messed up so bad that it hurts all the time. It doesn't come without work. We still have to believe and in order to believe, we have to act upon what we know. But it can be done and that's what matters to me. 

Guilt is a scary thing, but someone shared a scripture with me that's helping my process. 

"Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him. Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life."

I know that if I do my duty, when the time comes, Christ will be the one pleading for me at the judgment seat. So I'm taking care of what I need to now, even though its the hardest thing I've ever done, because I'm ready to be completely and totally happy again. I think it'll take awhile, but I've been blessed with some incredible people in my life. It's hard being away from home and the people there, but I have a support system here that almost seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere. That was the Lord's hand in my life, I guarantee it. And I love him for it. I'm ready for the change. 

More than anything.

"Ain't Gonna Let You Down, Just Wanna Make You Proud."

Quote of the Day:

*We're sitting around looking at pictures of guys on Tinder and there's this really good looking black dude.*

Allegra: "Well, you need vanilla AND chocolate..."
Amanda: "... to make... cookies and cream."

Pahahahahahaha, okay so maybe it was a had-to-be-there moment, but just the fact that it makes no sense, made it hysterical.

Okay, anyways. So this week seriously felt like it lasted a month. Like for real.

So Monday was chill, back to classes. Wrote my favorite missionaries, did a little homework, ya know.

Tuesday was lab day for my live and carcass eval class. We went out to the livestock center to do live weight estimations on a herd of bred angus. It was actually a lot of fun to be out moving the cows - everyone's inner cowboy sounds started to come out while we were moving the herd. At first, the measurements were a little iffy. I've never done weight estimation on cattle, so I didn't really know where to start. But after a few head, I started to get the hang of it. By the end of lab my average was 10-20lbs off. I felt pretty good about that, I won't even lie.

Wednesday was more classes and I hurt myself benching. That was dumb. Thought I was a beast, apparently not.

Thursday has a funny story. So for the past few weeks there's been this guy in my math group who I found very attractive. And we sit by each other so that was just like a huge bonus. Well, on Thursday we were talking in our group (it's me, cute kid, and one other guy) and Mr. Hottie McHot said he was from Illinois. So I was like, "Oh that's cool, I just went there for Christmas to visit my sister." And so we were talking and I find out he's from Geneva and my sister is from St. Charles, which is basically right there. Well TURNS OUT, my favoritest brother-in-law ever was his scout leader for awhile until the ward split. Whaaaaaaaaaaat. Talk about a small world.

Anyways, so now he has my number and I'm basically just waiting for him to utilize it. But we've seen each other in the gym a few times, so that's also a good thing. Please Lord, give him inspiration to text me.

Okay, so then Friday came around, woot woot. There was a party over at one of the other complexes, so my roommates and I hit that up. We played monster pong (for those of you who don't know what that is *coughmothercough* it's like beer pong, but with our beverage of choice, monster energy drinks) and turns out I'm no longer as good as I once was. But I can hold my own.

This is the dream team. We're kind of amazing.

After having way too much caffeine, we all went and watched Grown Ups (which is one of my all time favorite movies, so that was chill) and ended up getting home around 4:30, no big deal.

Saturday was pretty chill. Went to the gym in the morning, did some much needed apartment cleaning, then went out. First, we were gonna go rock climbing, but the place was occupied, so that didn't happen. So we basically drove around in their van and kinda didn't do anything.

Then I ditched for another group and we all went out to this "haunted" swing set out in the middle of nowhere. That was exciting stuff, except for it was freezing, even for this Alaskan. After the swing, we stopped by the old train tracks and messed around on the old train cars. It was actually pretty legit. I've never been on top of a train. I can just go check that off my bucket list.

Today is Sunday and so church. I taught in Relief Society today. Oh yeah, so I got released as Gospel Doctrine teacher (sad day) and they moved me to the Relief Society. At first I was like, "this is dumb", but it was fun teaching today. But I still miss my old class.

So that was this week. We get tomorrow off of classes 'cause it's a holiday, which is super nice. I think the roommates and I are planning a grocery shopping trip. Which is probs a good idea 'cause I'm thinking we're pretty much out of food these days.

Oh and the Broncos are playing the Patriots today. It's the 4th quarter, the score is 10-26, and Manning is a beast. Enough said.

Also, sometime this week I discovered the song "People Back Home" by FGL and oh my goodness it's like my song of the week. I've listened to it basically every day, no big deal. Anyway, it's amazing and reminds me of all y'all.

I think that's probs just about all of it. The home teachers are about to show up any minute now, so I should probably go put on pants. Probably a good idea. Peace out.

"Too Young To Know Any Better."

I know it's been like ages since I've posted. It's not really my fault though; life has been a little cray-cray to say the least.

I'm gonna try and remember everything that happened, but considering there has been so freaking much, I'm probs gonna miss  whole lot. Oh wells.

Okay, so I said goodbye to my wonderful, beautiful, favoritest roommates. There were tears, more pictures, and lots of hugging. That was not exactly a good time. I woke up to an empty apartment, which wasn't exactly a great feeling, finished packing, caught the four hour shuttle to Salt Lake, and finally made it to the airport. Due to weather issues, my plane got delayed several times and I ended up spending five hours at the SLC airport. I wanted to shoot myself. Finally, they got us boarding and the flight was about three hours to Chicago. Can I just say, flying sucks. It gives me a massive headache and planes smell weird.

Anyway, Stacy and Josh were waiting for me when I got there and of course Stacy starts crying 'cause I'm so amazing and plus there's pregnancy hormones helping out there too. So that was good. We got home at 2:00am and pretty much just crashed.

So the next day was church - Stacy had me talk to the young women there for a few minutes, share my collegiate wisdom, etc.

Monday was our first venture into the city! We took a train in (which I have never done before so that was exciting.) We ran down Michigan avenue and made it just in time for our reservations at the signature room. Which, by the way, is on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building. Talk about a view.

It was incredible. Luckily for us, the weather was clear so you could see basically everything. Absolutely gorgeous. 

After lunch we decided to head over to Navy Pier 'cause I really wanted to see that. It was absolutely freezing outside - below 0 and the wind off the lake was absolutely rude. But we walked all the way down the pier because we are strong Alaskan women and a little cold never hurt anyone. Ish. I got some pretty decent shots down there with the 'ole camera. Poor Mr. C; he wasn't liking the cold either. His battery was draining like crazy. 

This was my favorite from our Navy Pier adventures. It was all really pretty and we got to see the skyline so that was cool too. Also there were lots of pigeons... which I thought was fun. Anyways.

Next we went to Millennium park and saw the bean. And then we went iceskating there. The line was crazy long and we probably waited like an hour before we could get on the ice, but it was completely worth it.

This is us in the bean. Fabulous I tell ya, fabulous.

So then we did a little Nordstrom shopping and headed back to the train station. It was so cold, my face was numb, but it was getting dark and the city was absolutely beautiful at night. 

I'm not a huge city person, never really have been. I like my cows. But I'm not gonna lie, the big city has a certain charm. 

So the next day was Christmas eve and we didn't do much. We made pies and cooked Christmas dinner. Actually, Stacy mostly cooked. I just messed around in the kitchen and was in the way a lot. But it was fun!

I sure love this purty sister. And her fancy shmancy scrub brush. 

So the next day was Christmas and we did stockings and presents and all that good stuff. The missionaries came over for dinner which was fun and then we went and saw Frozen. Talk about adorable. Made me miss my reindeer boys. 

Thursday Stace and I got sick. For like, a really long time. We laid in bed pretty much all day every day, occasionally turning over to make sure the other one was still breathing. And we probably drank like five gallons of orange juice. 

Well, New Years eve we decided to buck up and be men and go out and party. So we got dressed and went out and it was a lot of fun, even though we were coughing our lungs up and only made it until just after midnight. But the effort, that's what counts. 

New Years day we went back into the city to the Shedd aquarium and this time we took Joshy with us. That place was huge. It took us like five hours to get through the dang thing. But it was exciting 'cause I got to see fishes and dolphins and whales and seahorses. So basically it was successful. 

That's the entrance. Not a lot of exciting stuff there, but now you've seen it.

This guys was pretty much my favorite. Apparently he's like a sea dragon or something or other. He was pretty awesome. Unfortunately I couldn't use my flash at all in the aquarium, so yeah, the picture quality on my shots pretty much sucked. Oh well.

We also went to the whale/dolphin show, which was pretty fun. Whales are so cute. I need one.

So after the aquarium we spent like a half hour trying to catch a cab, which was impossible and it was freezing and awful. But finally we got one and we went and had dinner at this little old timey pizza joint. It was super cute and the food was amazing. 

I probably ate more meat that night than I have all semester. It was crazy, but way good. 

So then we went home and yeah. 

I was only there for another couple days. We watched movies together our last night and hung out on the couch having way too many TMI moments. The next morning we finished packing and then they brought me back to the Chicago airport. It was sad leaving; I wish we all lived closer. It was nice being able to be with family again and plus I hadn't seen Stace since May so it was good to see her. So anyway, that was sad.

The flight home was long and delayed and the drive back to Rexburg was even longer. I got home at 3:00am -  I was so exhausted. Also, once I got back I realized I left my leather jacket on the plane. Freaking sucks. 

I met my new roommates the next day and honestly, all that made me do was miss my girls from last semester. But I'm dealing with it. 

Classes started on Monday! Honestly, I'm loving my classes this semester. All of them. I think my least favorite is my Book of Mormon class. I know that sounds bad, but I'm just being honest here. And it's not that I don't like it, it's just that it's not my favorite, ya know? 

My livestock classes are so interesting - I really like them already. On Tuesday we're heading out to the livestock center to do some live hog judging which I'm really looking forward to. 

Also, mi madre sent me a new pair of coveralls for Christmas. I freaking love these things! I can't wait to get out there and break 'em in. Actually I just can't wait to wear them around campus. But I'm waiting for the right opportunity. 

I'm liking my English class okay so far. It's pretty easy - we're most just reading like articles from people and finding the thesis statements. Not hard at all. And my math class is like... ridiculously easy. I was all worried 'cause ya know, it's like college math and all that jazz. Nuh-uh. I already have 116% in the class. It should be no problemo. 

Also, I sit at the same table as this pretty attractive guy during class period, so ya know... it could be worse, that's all I'm saying. 

Earlier this week I got a surprise email from a mish friend, who I met when he served in my ward back home. It was nice to hear from him, plus now I get two Elders to write, so score. 

Ummmm, I think that's basically it. All summed up, it's good to be home in the 'ole burg. While I was in Illinois, I was getting a little homesick and not for Alaska, like I thought I would be. I kinda like this place. A whole lot. Plus it's been nice 'cause I've been able to get back to my gym schedule, which completely went down the drain over Christmas break. 

Okay, well that's all for now. I'll get back on my regular posting schedule from now on I suppose. Later y'all! Have a fabulous week. \m/