6 Facts

I have been tagged by Carrie!

1. Peanut M&Ms are my absolute favorite candy! And I normally do not just pop them in my mouth and chew. I have to bite the chocolate off the nut. Then I split the peanut down the middle, bite off the little root bump, then try and split the nut into as many halves as possible. If I do just eat a peanut M&M, realize that is a rare occurence.

2. In my junior year of high school and before I hated writing with pens. Pencils were the way to go because I would mess up and I hated having words scratched out on my papers. Erasers were my best friends. College rolls around and I now hate writing with pencils. They smudge. I only write with pencils if I absolutely have to. Even more odd. I used to only write with black pens in high school. The juicy ones too. College. No black, only blue, and no more juicy! Ball point all the way! I actually have a favorite pen that I take with me everywhere. What I will do when it runs out? Or I lose it like I think I have? Cry probably.

3. Falling is my greatest fear. I am terrified of falling and landing and feeling the pain that comes with landing. I can handle heights just fine, airplanes cause me no discomfort (other than motion sickness). If there is a railing or anything for me to hold on to. But once the thoughts creep in of me tripping and plummeting over the edge, getting paralyzed, or dying, I don't like it anymore. Give me a mountain to climb and I will. Give me a chance to skydive or parachute and you will have push me. Then I will dislike you very much for forever. =D

4. Serving a mission is my life goal right now. I get letters from my missionaries and I love reading their stories about investigators, the area they are in, and the Spirit which is always with them. Almost no one thinks I can stay off marriage for another three years to achieve mission age, but I really want to. Nothing would make me happier than to be out in the world sharing my testimony with others!

5. It is a rare occurence for me to drink soda pop any more. Water, milk, and lemonade are the drinks to have. Hot Chocolate if it is cold (I think it is going to become an even bigger staple in my diet this winter). Grandpa Deano gave me a Sprite before I came back up to school and I drank it with my lunch today. I almost couldn't handle it! The fizz just hurts my stomach now. One little sip of Coke or Dr. Pepper makes me go crazy. It is a good thing water is free. If I was constantly buying soda I would be completely broke!

6. Walking through crunchy falls leaves is my favorite thing to do in the fall. Normally I am depressed as the days start to get colder. Here at school though I love walking to class on mornings when it hasn't rained and kicking up the leaves on the sidewalk. Yesterday all the leaves were blown off the sidewalk and onto the grass. I had to go walk on the grass so I could kick up my leaves. There is just something about wearing a jacket yet still being a little chilled then walking through piles of leaves that is so comforting to me. I think it started when Mom and I visited Lincoln and Carrie in Indiana and we went to a park. I got to walk around in the leaves and I was addicted.

I tag Maren, Marisa, Jessica, Rachelle, Stephanie M, and Abby. Enjoy!

Family Day

My student ward held a special two hour sacrament meeting today and invited the families of all the students to come and visit, then have lunch afterward. At first I was somewhat excited to have Mom come up and visit. Everyone I asked said their families were not coming so I felt out of place. Gradually though I realized this would be really fun and I was WAY excited for her to come up. Then tragedy struck. Mom got sick. Really sick. I feel totally bad for her sick. Suddenly when Mom is unable to come, all of my friends said their families were coming. Great! How does that work? So today instead of sitting with Mom during sacrament meeting, I sat between my two friends and their moms'. I felt alone and sad. I know it is not Mom's choice to not be here. She would be here for sure if she wasn't so sick. And that is totally fine. I honestly don't want to get sick. But it would have been nice to sit there with Mom like always back at home. Yet something about being in Logan makes it different and more meaningful.

I guess what I am trying to get at is that I really do love my family. I say it all the time, but it is so true! I was so excited to have Mom meet my bishopric (who are awesome, by the way), see my apartment (and how clean I keep it), and maybe even get to know my roommates better since I know them now. I am homesick. I do not show it because I was so excited to be off on my own. Actually I do not think this is normal homesickness. I am more familysick it feels like. I need my brothers and sisters- my best friends. I need my adorable nieces and nephews to make me laugh, joy, and play like a little kid should. I need Mom to hold my hand, keep me paying attention to the speakers, and make sure I get enough to eat (and that it is real food). No, I am not a little kid still, but there is that part of me (which is in everyone I am sure) that just needs to snuggle when life is hard and the monsters in the closet never seem to go away.

Life is pretty good though.

I LOVE YOU! <3

Flowers

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

I like flowers. They make me happy. They remind me of Spring. So far away....

Entomophagy

Gross.
Crunchy.
Disgusting.
Tasteless.
Nasty.
Coarse.
Foul.
Dry.
Sickening.
Awful.
Uncouth.

All these adjectives sum up my experience today pretty well. To say the least, my Food and Culture class has been studying taboos. Needless to say, bugs were a part of that. Normally I like the food provided in that class and will eat it without gagging. Too bad that couldn't be the case today. I ate a bug...

Crickets are yucky.

Crickets are worse than yucky.

And any attempts to flavor crickets fail miserably.

Crickets are HORRIBLE!

Don't eat them!

Tests

With college life upon me I have to deal with everything my classes have to throw at me. My schedule consists of Biology (with a 3 hour lab once a week), Chemistry (3 hour lab once a week and 1 hour recitation once a week), Food and Culture, and Creative Arts. I love all my classes even though there are some very frustrating times which bombard me (particularly Chem Lab-Thankfully today was manageable for once!). But being the fifth week of school I have started to encounter tests in my classes. First was Biology on Friday morning. To say the least, I have never taken a biology class prior to this so I was scared out of my mind! Thursday night before the test I studied for four hours in addition to the hour (at least) I put into studing each day previous. Luckily all that studying paid off and I only missed three questions. To say the least I was very stoked about it. Chemistry gave me a test on Monday morning, but this one I wasn't too worried about. I had taken Chemistry twice before this so I am very confident about my basic chemistry skills. Sadly, I didn't study as much, but it didn't make a difference. I only missed two questions. One I missed was a stupid mistake I made in my conversion factor (2.54 inches are NOT in 1 centimeter!) and the other I simply wasn't sure about. Overall, I am happy with my test scores so far and hope that the success continues. Woot for starting the year out good!

Apples

With college started, computers come into play in my life so much more. For a while I thought I could manage by using the computers at the library. Turns out they fill out REALLY fast, and it is only the fourth week of classes. Think about how busy they will be when finals week rolls around. So after finding a great deal, some money was invested and I am now enjoying my new computer. And iPod. Yes, that is right. Katherine X has an iPod nano (lime green, it is totally cool!) and a white Macbook. Everything about it is just so....white. Even though Mom has had Macs for years, finally getting my own is like I have never seen one. I love playing with all the various toys and applications already on here. Including the built in camera, iTunes, everything pretty much. Finally I will be able listen to music wherever and not have to swipe Steph's iPod (named Lily). Now I have Jade to take around with me. (Don't ask about the whole naming things, we are just weird college kids). Life is great. It really is.

Utah State, HEY! Aggies all the way!

So I have officially completely my third week of college life. To state it simply....I LOVE IT! College is so much fun, I can hardly get enough of it. Meredith's stories surpass mine as of now, but I am sure my experiences will expand very rapidly. My classes are exactly what I was looking for: tough, but providing me an opportunity to love. I guess I really am supposed to be heading towards a major in chemistry or biology because both subjects completely fascinate me. In fact, in Biology lab on Thursday I saw an Amoeba! Under microscope! It was crazy! Friends are awesome and we are always finding opportunities to play and have a great time. Do not worry, I am studying dutifully, but I need to incorporate a level of play. I would love mail because I don't think I have ever seen a more barren mailbox ever. Address: 204 Merrill Hall/Logan, UT 84321. Write please? I miss everyone and I love everyone! If you want to hear more of my adventures, just ask or keep checking occasionally. I promise I will blog some of my experiences.

Twilight in the First Person

Getting the opportunity to visit Lincoln, Carrie and their three boys this past week waas absolutely wonderful! I loved played with Matthew, Scott, and holding little Luke. Don't forget the challenges issued by Lincoln to keep my brain functioning during the dull months of summer. On Friday we packed up the cars and headed up to the Olympic Peninsula by way of ferry. For those who know my love of Stephenie Meyer and her books Twilight, New Moon, and as of yesterday, Eclipse, I had to stop at the main locations Edward and Bella spent time in. So here are my pictures from Forks and La Push. Oddly enough I ran into Bella's truck Monday night back here in Salt Lake. Thanks for being such a great enthusiast with me Carrie!

Attack of August 8th

So this morning I was awoken by the flashing of mom's camera to find my room in ruins (more than it normally is anyway :D) The destructor was none other than the infamous Randi Howell. What a great way to welcome in my 18th birthday! Thanks!

Happy 4th!

FYI: Sunburns REALLY hurt.

Boating is way worth it though.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!