Christmas time is here...

Okay, so Christmas time has been here, but honestly, I haven't really felt the Christmas spirit too much this season.  I think it mostly has to do with the fact that I wasn't with my family for the holidays this year, so it just wasn't the same.  To be fair, it's not bad being back in California.  It's nice being back home, and the Troub's have been great, but without my own family, it's just not the same.

I did have a good Christmas day, though.  My parents were awesome and got me a 64 GB 4th Generation iPod touch, which has a microphone and camera, which is way nice :)  I won't really be taking it anywhere with me until I buy a case and screen protector for it, though, I don't want it to get scratched up.  Kathy was really funny when she wrapped it, she put it in about five or six different boxes all inside of each other to try and mask what it was from me.  I got some great new clothes, consisting of a cute black skirt, the most adorable dress you've ever seen, and black tights with designs on them.  Then I got a Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants/Pearl of Great Price in Russian!  Honestly, the scriptures in Russian are kind of daunting.  They remind me of how little Russian I actually know, but hopefully they'll make me aspire to work harder.  I also got some cute German pottery; they are a tea cup and a plate with musical instruments all over them.  My mom said that I'm not actually supposed to use them, that they're just a collector's item, so that's just more stuff I have to carry around with me ;)  But I do like it.  I got a cute little keychain attachment with the Dutch colors on it.  Then from Santa I got a TON of gummy bears, which was nice since I was running low on those, and some awesome toe socks :)

So basically, I had a good haul this year :)  But let's get real, people.  Christmas isn't about our awesome presents.  In my last post I already talked about the true reason for the holiday, and that we should focus on the Savior.  I know that I myself did not do this so much.  During the Christmas concert it was much easier, because we had beautiful music to invite the Spirit and thoughts of the Savior, but then finals hit, and life became hectic, and then it was time for vacation.  I've never been super good at keeping the Savior in mind during Christmas time, and this year was definitely an improvement for me, but I still wish I had thought about Him more, especially this week, but I've just been so lazy and embracing the fact that there is no school right now that my head and heart haven't been in the right place.  And it isn't just the Christmas season I've been slacking in this, but in general I don't think about the Savior enough in my life like I should.  This is definitely something for me to improve on.  A New Year's resolution, maybe?

I am so grateful for my life.  I have been given so many wonderful opportunities, and have been blessed with so many awesome people in my life.  This school year has been so great thus far, and I hope I have at least as good of a semester this winter as I did in the fall, if not better.  Strangely enough, I'm looking forward to getting back to school (I say that now, but halfway through January I'll be begging for my next break haha).  I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday season!  I love you all :)

Ahhh...

It is officially the end of the semester.  Words cannot describe how happy I am to be done with it.  Don't get me wrong, I've had a blast this semester, what with all of the choir stuff I've had going on, and DanceSport last month, but I'm so ready to move on to next semester.  I'm sooooooo glad to be done with Islamic Humanities, because that class is the devil.  Finals were killer this semester, not gonna lie.  Bro. Moore, my Pearl of Great Price teacher, was way nice and gave me a better grade than I should have gotten.  When I asked him about it, he said, "I'm cutting you a break.  It's Christmas."  Thank goodness for the holiday spirit and cheer, right?  ;)for break.

Next semester is going to be amazing.  Four dance classes, more choir, and just awesomeness all around.  I am so stoked to get started on it.  I'm very determined to do well, definitely better than I did this semester.  I have a feeling Russian is going to be more intense than it's ever been, so I need to step up my game and be prepared for that.  I am excited to continue with Women's Chorus and working with the Men's Chorus.  I'm excited to meet new people.  I've already met a ton of fantastic people this semester, and I feel blessed to have those people in my life :)  The only thing casting a shadow on this upcoming semester is the burning of the Provo Tabernacle today :(  It is seriously a travesty what happened.  That building was one of my favorites in Provo, and I have great memories of performing amazing concerts there.  We had one scheduled there for next month, and also the Women's Chorus 50th Anniversary Concert in March, which now has to be moved to April 1 in the de Jong on campus, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is still very sad.  The tabernacle was so special, and I hope the city puts out the money to renovate and fix it.

In other news, I will be in California in less than 24 hours :)  I am definitely excited to get to go home for break.  I've been back a few times since Christmas 2008, but only for a few days at a time, so it will be nice to have two full weeks there.  I can't wait to see people I haven't seen in two years, and to get to go back to San Francisco.  Hopefully Nathalie will fly out for a few days and Kathy and I can show her around.  It is definitely my favorite city in America.

The only thing that will be weird about break this year is that it will be the first Christmas/New Year's I spend without my family.  It will be sad, but I know we'll be thinking of each other.

I just want everyone to think about the true meaning of Christmas, which is the Savior.  This is the time we celebrate his birth, his willingness to come to Earth and atone for all of our sins, and the willingness of our Heavenly Father to send His Only Begotten to be sacrificed.  We are truly loved by our Father in Heaven and the Savior.  We sang the most GORGEOUS arrangement of "Silent Night" for our Christmas concert this semester, and for the first time I really payed attention to the words of the song.  "Jesus, Lord at they birth...Christ the Savior is born."  Those words have such a marvelous meaning.  Christ was our Savior from the beginning.  There was no other who could do what He did for us.  I learned in Bro. Moore's class that even if Christ knew that only one person on the earth would take advantage of the Atonement, He still would have suffered for every single person's sins, just for that one person.  That is so amazing.  I hope we can all have a spirit of gratitude for the Savior's sacrifice this semester, for He is the reason for the season, so they say.

Anyway, it's almost 4 AM, and I'm in the process of getting laundry done and cleaning my room/bathroom before I leave.  I've got a few errands to run in the morning, unfortunately, but hopefully what I have left won't take too long.  I'll probably write at least once during the break.  I'm kind of starting to like this blogging thing, it's a MUCH easier way of keeping a journal.  Plus, I know you're all just dying to know what's going on in my life ;)  Until next time...

Sooooooo...

So it's almost 2:30 AM right now, and I am still awake trying to do Russian homework.  Next semester I am making a vow that I won't be an idiot like I was this semester and wait until the last minute to do crap.  My brain is about to explode.  And I am officially starting my new job today, which means that I have work at 5:00, which means I have to leave my apartment in two hours so I can walk to campus.  Hopefully a lack of traffic will help me in my journey.  I need to make sure I eat breakfast so I can have some kind of brain energy for my Russian quiz today, and then I have to write two small papers for my Islamic humanities class (the devil in disguise), and then go to Russian choir, and then go to Islamic humanities (and probably fall asleep in Islamic humanities), and then I get to go home!  I think.  That's the plan right now, at least.

However, my day will end nice and lovely, since my ward is going to go to Temple Square tonight to look at the Christmas lights :)  I haven't done this since my freshman year, so I'm really really excited to go!

The fact that it's now 2:31 AM means that it is officially the last day of classes for the winter semester.  That absolutely boggles my mind.  I mean, I know we all get to a point where we think the semester could not possibly move any slower, but then Thanksgiving hits and it's all downhill from there.  I have been so incredibly blessed with all sorts of amazing opportunities this semester.  I've met so many great people that have changed my life, and I don't know what my life would be without them in it now :)  I'm hoping next semester is as good as this semester has been, because I have enjoyed myself terribly.  I think next semester will be a little crazier than this semester, since I'll actually have a full-time job, and I'll be taking about 16.5 credits or so, but I think it will be very fulfilling.  Granted, 3.5 of those credits consist of dance and choir, so I don't think it'll be that bad.  I am definitely looking forward to it, which is weird for me, because winter semester is my least favorite time of the year, since there is an almost complete lack of breaks (only two three-day weekends?  C'mon, BYU!).  But I am way excited for life :)  I know I already said this, but I can't believe how blessed I am in my life.  I've been looking at all of what God has given me this semester, and I am truly a beloved Daughter of God :)

Anyway, it's now 2:37, and I still have homework.  This is a really really good example of why it is bad to procrastinate...

Black Friday

So I had a thought about all of the news articles about Black Friday.  They have pictures of shoppers and their gifts up, and I just thought, what if their kids see these?  I mean, Christmas will be ruined for their children because they had pictures put up on the internet of them actually buying their kids' gifts.  I'm just saying, maybe the internet news sites should be a little more considerate and think about the Christmas spirit.  I mean, they're pretty much killing Santa by doing this.  For shame, internet, for shame...

Thanksgiving Break

So today was the first real day of Thanksgiving break.  It's the first break we've had since the three-day weekend at the end of the first week of school.

The most productive thing I've done today is get the mail.

And I looked like a hobo doing it.  I was in my robe, and even went out with a mug of hot chocolate.  I felt like one of the middle aged guys that goes out and gets the paper early in the morning in their underwear and robe.  Except I didn't go early in the morning, I went in the afternoon, because I'm a slacker.  And I had more than just my underwear on.  I had leggings on.  Not much better, as they were covered by the robe, but still.  Slacker status to the max.

All I've really done today is watch TV and movies online.  And listen to Yann Tiersen, who is AMAZING by the way.  I feel disappointed in myself as a human being.  I totally have things I could have done today.  But I didn't do any of them.  Have I mentioned that I'm a slacker?

UPDATE:  So I just saw this add about how people can transform their blog into a book.  ANYONE can do this.  How lame is that?  Not everyone's personal writings should be a book, people.  Imagine if that was your Christmas gift one year, a book made out of some extended relative's blog.  And it's horrible.  Worst.  Gift.  Ever.  This is something that should not be.

Killjoys, Make Some Noise!

So a new My Chemical Romance album comes out Monday, but they streamed their album online today and I'm currently listening to it.  I have to say, it's been worth the wait since "The Black Parade."  They've got a new sound, yet still keep some of their old roots.  Overall, amazing album.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Josh Groban's new album came out yesterday.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  I haven't heard all of it yet, but from what I have heard, I'm not too impressed.  He's branching too far out from what he originally started out as, which was a classical singer, which fits his voice best.  I've heard one or two songs on the album that I like, but so far, I'm kind of disappointed, and I don't want to be, because I'm quite a Grobanite, but I just don't know...maybe it will grow on me?

In other news, my plans for getting a custodial job at school have once again been thwarted.  You know your current job sucks when the thought of cleaning toilets and vacuuming carpets sounds better that what you're currently doing (which right now is pretty much nothing, since I'm only on call and can't work a lot of the shifts people ask me to work for them.  And honestly, I'm so sick of working at the Cannon Center).  Granted, I'd be getting 15-20 hours a week, which would be waaaaay sweet.  I'd actually be able to bring home a decent paycheck.  Luckily I have a friend who works custodial at one of the buildings on campus, and she's going to find out if there's a way for me to get a job there next semester.  So look out JKB, you might have a new custodian making you look pretty next semester!

UPDATE: So I know I've been changing my template a lot the past couple of days, but I think this is the one!  At least for today...

Okay...

So I realize that I still have this thing, and I haven't done anything with it in forever.  Seeing as all sorts of ridiculous things seem to happen to me, and my roommate Nathalie keeps telling me I should write them all down, I've decided to do just that.  Hopefully my ridiculous misfortunes will keep you all heartily entertained.

So Friday my toilet decided to explode.

For no good reason, mind you.  It's not like I've been abusing it or anything.  But I go to the bathroom, go and get my laundry, and come back to find an inch of water on the floor and water flowing out from my toilet.

If you know me, you know I'm somewhat of  a germ freak, at least when it comes to stuff like this.  And my toilet's timing was impeccable, of course, because I needed to leave for class in a very short while.  So I get a towel on the floor to try and stop the water from ruining my carpet, and proceeded to take the mop get ride of the flood that had erupted onto my bathroom floor.

After mopping up as much water as I possibly could, I called the landlords to tell them what's up.  She asks if I've accidentally flushed anything down there, and I told her that nothing's gone down there that doesn't normally go down a toilet.  She said that she was just asking because a girl who had rented my room previously had also had toilet problems, and only after they'd spent money trying to fix it did she deem it appropriate to tell them she'd accidentally flushed a compact down there.  I reassured my landlord that I was not as big of an idiot as their previous tenant, and she proceeded to tell me that they would come and check it out.

So lo and behold, I run into Nathalie on campus after choir, and she tells me that the landlords had already come and checked out my toilet, and that it was now fine.  I call them to see what's up, and during this conversation I find out that there was a part in my toilet that had broken, and the tenant previous to me had decided that duct tape was suitable enough to fix it.  I don't know if this is the same girl that flushed the compact down the toilet, but either way, my landlords seem to have rented out to some real winners before me, and now I'm starting to question my presence here, and if I will be the next to succumb to bouts of toilet stupidity.  As if they sense that I have already succumbed to these bouts, they ask if I was aware of this obviously unsuitable repair, which obviously I had no idea, because they hadn't told me about it and it's not like I inspect the insides of my toilet on a regular basis.  Or ever, really.  My landlord then proceeds to tell me that the part in question will probably be replaced in the future, and he also tells me that the water level in my toilet was too high, so he lowered it for me.  He also said that he tested my toilet to see if he had suitably repaired it, and that he had flushed it numerous times without it spewing all over the place, and that it was now once again safe for me to use.

So here I am, thinking about what a failure my plumbing has become, when I go to get the mail and run into Jessica, the girl who lives right below me, and I proceed to tell her my story of misery and woe, when she tells me that the same exact thing happened to her at around the same time it happened to me.  So apparently, this isn't just something that's wrong with my toilet, it's affecting more than one person.  And her landlords came over to my apartment, because it sounds like there are problems with other rooms in their apartment.

To top it all off, we found out yesterday that management is spending all of this money to redo the solarium (the center of my building that has an indoor pool, volleyball court, gazebo, and tons of plants), when really they should be spending it on other things.  Like fixing the plumbing.  And getting rid of all of the ants in our building.  I think management has their priorities screwed up.  I could care less about new sand, and a new gazebo, and getting a ping pong table installed under the gazebo, which is just creepy, because I'm pretty sure that's the place where they found the body of a dead guy here a few years ago (apparently Old Mill is haunted by his ghost too.  That's about the only thing that's making me like this place right now.  Besides my big bed.  And my own bathroom, when it decides it's not going to PMS and explode everywhere).  Ping pong?  Really?  HOW ABOUT TOILETS THAT DON'T EXPLODE?!  IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR, HIGHER-UPS?!  I should think not, but then again, what do I know?  I'm just a college student that doesn't want to live with the fear of my toilet deciding to hate me and spew it's guts everywhere.

On the plus side, I found out I got a 95% on my Intro to Greek and Roman literature midterm, which I didn't really study for until the day of and it was really long.  Go me!