Mysterious Ways

So in my most recent post, I was feeling rather yucky.
Well, I watched "7 Pounds" tonight. And if someone hasn't seen the movie and doesn't want it to get ruined for them, don't continue reading, because I'm going to spill it. I am so amazed at the sacrifice Will Smith made for total strangers. I can only imagine the guilt he felt after causing an accident that killed 7 people, including his fiancee. But he repaid that sevenfold... literally. the fact that he found someone who had his same blood type with a faulty heart was amazing. Then he went and gave up his own life for her. In the end, he donated part of his liver, bone marrow, a lung lobe, eyes, his house, and his heart to seven random strangers. That honestly got me thinking about the Atonement. Perhaps because I'm thinking of my Sunday School lesson that I need to finish. But really. Think about the ultimate sacrifice given in both situations. Needless to say, it was powerful. And makes me want to be a better person.

I don't get mad, I just get even

When life gives you lemons, you just take them and throw them at someone else. That's my motto. It makes you feel a little bit better, at least.
It's been a long week. We can start with 3 hours in the library Monday night (longest i've spent in the library all semester), followed by a group meeting on Tuesday for a project I didn't know I had. It was due Thursday. Fortunately all I had to plan was 3 minutes of information on Learning Disabilities in the workplace. Wednesday night was just as miserable. I got up early to do laundry, dishes, and practice the piano for the ward Talent show that night. I couldn't believe I had signed myself up for this. I haven't signed up for a talent show (minus the wonderful "Jai Ho!" dance last semester, but that was everyone) since 4th grade. And then, i was-yep- playing the piano. This time I decided to play the piano and sing. The song I chose was "Breathe" by Anna Nalick. I had to change a word or two, but it was easy and has a good message. I had 3 classes back to back, then a group meeting for the same group. These girls need to CHILL OUT. They were snapping at each other back and forth over the table for an hour and a half. I just sat there in a half asleep stupor. The talent show was... exciting. Tons of people playing the piano. That's why I don't like going to talent shows. Someone's always better than me at the piano, and at singing. But I did it , and I think I did fine. Then I had to write my 3 minutes of information. I was so tired by the end of the day Thursday, I planned for a 3 hour nap. However, some roommates forget that since I sleep right by the bathroom, I can hear EVERYTHING they say when they're in there. So it was only a 45 minute nap. Along the way, I found out something that made me kind of sad. BUT... don't worry. Nothing an hour and a half at the gym couldn't cure. I would have gone for longer, but I was falling asleep. Now, we're plotting a prank that will be funny, and totally undectectable.

Sledding

For those who didn't see the videos/pictures on Facebook, here are the highlights:

Laundry Ranting/Raving/Venting (and stories from this weekend)

While BYU Idaho is an institution that is ordained of God, there are definitely some facilities that are less than celestial. One is this stupid laundry system. You think that since Tuscany is one of the newer apartment complexes around campus, we would be able to have free laundry. At the least, CHEAP. However, that is not Tami's plan for us. I think she's some type of vampire, except instead of sucking our blood from our necks she's draining our wallets for her own gain. Example? Charging me $30 for not sweeping BEHIND the fridge at checkouts. Sorry, i forgot we eat off the floor back there. And charging us because we had a candle lit away from anything else last night. Anyway, laundry. It's $1.25 to wash and another dollar to dry. So, $2.25 to do a load. Multiply that by 4, and you get $9. Per week? Yeah right! If there's 12 weeks in the semester, that's over $100 I'm spending on laundry alone. And you can't combine loads in the dryer, because it won't dry the clothes. So basically, I've devised a new plan of attack. Many of my clothes do not need to be washed every week. That sounds gross, but I'm not being unhygienic. For example, my jeans are always super tight, they can afford to stretch out a little bit and be normal until I wash them again. I also have enough clothes to last a few weeks, I just usually wear the same 10 shirts over and over again. I just don't get why we have to empty our wallets every week looking for quarters to feed this infernal machine.
At any rate, I had a spectacular fall last night at the pool. I was running after a ball, which was kind of scary because it was on slick tiles and Cody was running after me. I had this vision of me sliding in front of the ball, rolling into the pool, while managing to hit Cody in the face with the ball as I went under. Instead, you remember that scene from "Free Willy" when the kid falls in front of the killer whale tank and hits his head on the cement? It probably looked like that. Fortunately my hip has a lot of cushioning, otherwise it might have REALLY hurt. As it is, i'm going to have a spectacular bruise there. As i slowly rolled my mass into the pool, they asked if I was ok. I was hurt, but why would I tell them that? So now I'm sore because of working out and eating it on the tiles last night.
At any rate, I just got my calling. Sunday School teacher. Ironic, eh? Love it, our FHE brother recommended me to the bishop. And then some of the boys came over and gave Lindsay a blessing, since she was coughing up a storm. So cute that we have friends who can do that.

First week of the Coldest Semester Yet.

As I left Monday morning (Yes, I've been here for less than 5 days), it was 50 degrees at 5 in the morning. As I thought about what I was going to, I wondered again why I was so excited to go back to Idaho. The flight and drive were pleasant but uneventful, besides James turning onto the Legacy Parkway, which took us off course for a while. My first step out of his truck when we finally got to Tuscany was directly onto the most slippery patch of ice in Rexburg, resulting in my feet sliding out from underneath me. I pretended it didn't happen, since no one saw, but internally I knew it was Rexburg letting me know what I was in for. When we got into my apartment, the power was out. Another classic Rexburg move. But the three letters sitting on my bed waiting for me made up for it- from Elder Cornwell, Elder Green, and Elder Wong.
School was remarkably uneventful. The most exciting part of the week was missing my weight training class because I couldn't print out my schedule. As is standard, those known as my "crew" left this weekend to go to Utah. Which left me in my apartment with half the people there. That trick gets remarkably old after a while... I hate being left here by the people i'm supposed to be the closest to. But I guess all that means is that I'm supposed to go make new friends. I'm good at that.
We got our new FHE group this semester- it seems like it's going to be a good semester. Hopefully it will be better than our last semester's group... But I don't think it could be worse. At least three other people are from California, one from San Diego, which makes me happy. We'll have something in common. That's basically it for right now... I'm just bracing myself for a long week ahead. Only the second of the semester.