Summer Adventures

I've got less than a week left in northern Utah.  On Saturday, my summer adventures begin. I am ready for summer, but it is certainly going to be one of the busiest ones I've had.  Here's about how it will go:

On Saturday, my family is driving to Arizona where my sister served her mission.  We'll spend half a day there and then drive down to Mexico with a family she knows.  We'll spend a couple lovely days on the beach before we head north again.  The rest of my family will stay in Arizona for a few more days, but I'm flying home(ish) early.

 Don't worry, I'm just going here in Mexico.  It's just going to be a tiny bit beautiful : )

I say home(ish) because I won't go home between there and Cedar City.  Yes, for those who haven't heard, I'm going back to work at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and am delighted to have this opportunity again.  I'm excited to use what I've learned and learn more sewing techniques, meet more people, renew friendships and enjoy beautiful southern Utah while I'm there.

But don't worry, my adventures don't end there.  I'm leaving before everyone else so I can go do a term at BYU.  Am I transferring back to BYU?  No, not permanently, but I missed it so much (and it's cheaper) that I decided why not go back for a term?  Plus it will help me graduate in a year and a half.  Hurray!
I'm a little nervous to go back because the courses are more rigorous than the U's and as I've learned you really do rise (or lower) to people's expectations.  And while I still work very hard in my classes at the U, there is less work required to succeed (although that depends on your definition of succeed).  In some of my classes I have learned a lot, but I do feel I need to supplement what we do in class to really learn as in depth as I'd like.  I'm also starting a week late (which is like 2 weeks since it's Summer term) so that makes me a little nervous, but I'll make it work!  


Then a wedding in August (that I'm making a veil for) and two weeks of real free time, before it's back to the U for Fall semester.


But before all the fun, I need to take four finals, pack, and clean.  I'm really wishing I was Mary Poppins right now - I'd just snap my fingers and everything would be put away.  Oh and I'd be "practically perfect in every way." : )

So, my dear friends from Northern Utah, I will miss you lots and lots (though a few of you are coming to visit me). I feel like I'm finally getting established, and then I leave.  But the good thing is that I will be back come August.  But this blog will soon return to its original purpose, to record my adventures when I'm away from my friends and family.

C's Get Degrees!

Today was the first day of finals. 

Already I feel done. 

 And I haven't even taken one. 

I've a lot to do this weekend, studying, wedding showers, and receptions, a social life, and so forth.  Hmm... how am I going to pattern a dress and study for a test with everything else?  

I've just got to keep the right perspective.  I suppose I'm getting too caught up with getting straight A's.  It's like a friend and I always tell each other, "C's get degrees!"  Which is code for, put God and people before doing perfect in school.  Will it really matter if I don't get an A on my finance final?  Will I be kicked out of the Celestial kingdom for not having a 4.0?  Pretty sure the answer is no.  

People and relationships do matter. I don't want to be a world renowned costumer, yet not have true relationships with God, my family, and friends.  They matter, even during finals week.  Luckily, most of my professors understand this. 

 My costume design professor asked me the other day, "So did you get a lot of studying done last night?"

"Not as much as I hoped," I replied, "I went out to get ice cream with a friend and wasn't as productive as I hoped."

And she said, "Good, I'm glad you did that."

So yay for professors who want me to have a balanced life!

P.S. I have no plans of actually getting C's.  I'm sure everything will be fine.  Right now I'm just lacking motivation.  I'm going to blame it on Spring fever.  Any suggestions for staying motivated?

I'm in Love... with Spring

How can you not be in love with beautiful blossoms, warm weather, and sunshine? It's getting really hard to stay inside. I just want to sit out on the grass and read and daydream.

The funny thing is that when I was younger, I hated being outdoors. I hated the bugs, the dirtiness, and the feel of grass. I couldn't get inside soon enough. Now it's the opposite. I wish I could plug my sewing machine and iron in outside and sit in the sun and sew.

On a whim after visiting teaching, I drove up to the temple (with the windows rolled down - my favorite) and just walked around as the sun set. It was magnificent. It was the perfect temperature, and quiet and still and I was quite content.

Frida Kahlo Hair

A lady at work told me today that I had Frida Kahlo hair. This is what I first thought of:

Frida is sort of known for her uni-brow. But luckily she did not say I had that.

Below is a picture of my hair today.  (And please don't mind the unpleasant look on my face.  All the ones with with me smiling just looked silly.)  I was picturing the picture above and wondering how there was resemblance.

Then I saw this picture:

Ah ha! Now that is tasteful. I'll that as compliment. 

Now I really should do my finance homework.

It's a good thing it's the end of the semester.

Anyone notice that my posts have become more frequent with the approach of finals?  Yes, blogging has become a nice form of procrastination for me.  Hope you enjoy the fruits of my procrastination in the form of this post.

Take Time to Eat and Breathe

Today on the bus ride home I started feeling horrible.  My head was pounding and my stomach didn't feel so great either.  I normally do homework on the bus, but reading just made it worse.  By the time I got home, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep it off, but of course I have homework so I couldn't do that.  So instead I did some yoga, hoping it would help.

All the sudden it dawned on me.  I hadn't eaten for 5 hours.  Perhaps that had something to do with the misery I was in.  Food sounded less than appetizing at the moment, but I slowly ate an orange anyway.  I started to feel a little better.  So I ate a piece of toast.  And then another.  And then a bowl of some casserole my mom made the night before.  And then some brussel sprouts (yes, I like those things).  And then some crackers.  And drank two glasses of water.  And guess what?  I felt better!

Moral of the story.  Take time to eat and relax.  I forget to do that sometimes.  I'm pretty sure I gave myself a migraine from stressing over school and lack of food.  I had food in my backpack and I should have just eaten it, but I was too busy doing other things.  Bad idea.  Probably my lack of sleep hasn't helped either.  So here are some goals for me as finals approach: eat, breathe, sleep.

Wish me luck on accomplishing those and doing well on finals ; )

A week and a half left

That's how much time left until classes end.  And I'm so excited.

This week was crazy busy with a research paper to write, a show to design, and banquets to attend.  This research paper was assigned to us a week and a half before it was due - just because the professor forgot to assign it over a month ago.  So I had to scramble to write it.  I can't say it's the best thing I've ever written, but I gave it all I could with everything I had going on.

Then I inherited a play to design costumes for on Monday... and dress rehearsal is today.  No big deal, I can whip up some costumes.  ; )  It was a little crazy, but the good thing for me was that since I came in so late and helping them out last minute I gave them a lot of stipulations.  For instance, I felt uncomfortable with some of the things in the play, so I told the director I wouldn't go to any of the rehearsals or performances.  So I just drop off clothes and they let me know if there are any problems.  It's great!  And a lot of people are using their own clothes, so really it's not too horrible. 

Then I had two banquets to attend, one was to accept a scholarship and the other was to induct new members to Phi Eta Sigma (an honor society I'm an officer in).  On Tuesday I went to a banquet with members of the University of Utah Alumni Board to accept a scholarship for next year.  It was very posh up in the Rice Eccles Stadium.  I meant to take a picture of the beautiful view, but didn't.  They served us black Thai rice as part of our meal and I loved it!  I need to figure out where I can buy that stuff.  It was a lovely evening and though it cut into my homework time, I was grateful for the opportunity to thank the board for giving me a scholarship.  It will be such a blessing to me.  It has lifted such a burden off of my shoulders.  And it has opened up money so I can buy a car.  I'm so looking forward to having the independence of a car again.  Now if only I can find a car...


And although I spent a good chunk of my time doing homework this weekend, tomorrow I'm going to wish I did more.  But you've got to stay well rounded.  So I did play.  Last night I went to a bachelorette party for an old roommate and friend and all but one of the girls we lived with were there.  It was so delightful to have us all together again.  How I'd missed those girls! 

Anyway, I'm going to regret it if I stay up any more.  I'm going to start my day early tomorrow.  There's of course much to be done.  Plays to read, dresses to make, applications to fill out, etc. 

I was going to say something spiritual with it being Sunday and all, but I'm out of time.  So just watch this instead: