This post is a little late because it hasn't snowed for a little over a week now, but I'm still so excited that it did snow!
On November 9, I walked out of my door with an umbrella in hand. It was raining. A lot. Being from Portland, I love rain. It is so relaxing! I will say, however, that I do not like walking to class in the rain. Before I got ready that morning, I checked the weather, as I do every morning. It said that it was supposed to snow, but once I saw the rain, I assumed that it was just going to rain.
How wrong I was!
By the end of my last class at 1:00 pm, there was snow on the ground!! I was SO EXCITED!!
There are few things in life that make me happier than snow. What do I love about snow?
It is beautiful
When you can see it falling in the light of the streetlights at night
The sound it makes when you step in it
White Christmases
How pure it is before people walk through it
Once the snow started, I don't think it ever really stopped. When we got out of the basketball game (more on that later), there was even more snow than before! It was amazing!!
Throughout the day, there was a song that got stuck in my head from Disney's Twelve Days of Christmas sing-along movie from when I was a kid. It's called "Snow Ho-Ho"! If you know this, I am very proud of you. (In the video, skip to 8:52 for the song. Or watch the whole thing!)
Aside from snow, there's something else that means winter is here: basketball season! That's right, the season has officially begun! The home opener was that same day as the 1st winter storm. It was so fun! And we won!! I love basketball season!!!! The student section still isn't my favorite thing, but maybe it will grow on me... I do like the name that they came up with for it: the ROC (Roar Of Cougars). I like that we have a name, AND they gave us free t-shirts! That's my favorite thing!! Except for winning. :)
Speaking of winning, the basketball team didn't do that this weekend. Neither did the football team. Or the volleyball teams. Or the Oregon Ducks. It was a rough sports weekend. My intramural coed volleyball team won on Friday though! And BYU women's soccer advanced to the Elite Eight! That's pretty excited! I hate to say it, but I would've rather had the soccer team lose in the NCAA tournament than the basketball team lose in a preseason tournament. I just really love basketball!!
How much do I love basketball? Here is our apartment's Christmas tree:
Yup, we decorated our tree with the basketball team. We cut out the players from one of the free posters we got from the home opener! It was Amy Jo's brilliant idea!! I love it so much!!
This week is Thanksgiving, so don't forget to be grateful for everything that you have! Here's a great winter song to get you in the mood for the upcoming Christmas season:
Don't think it's time for Christmas music yet? Read this article I wrote about the very popular Christmas music debate and let me know what you think. When should we start listening to Christmas music? Have a great week! :)
PS: I don't think I'm going to have enough time to do recaps of all of the BYU games. From here on out, I'll probably just write about the really intense ones.
As I reflect on my week, I have come to a common theme: REMEMBER. Obviously I try to remember all of the things that I have to do for school or to remember to go to all of the random events throughout the week, but this week I was reminded of the important things that we should remember.
For Halloween I dressed up as Life and handed out lemons (get it??). If you were about to give me props for thinking of it, I didn't. It took an hour of looking up random, easy costumes. Halloween isn't my favorite holiday. But it was fun to watch people as they tried to figure out what I was dressed as. Haha! As I explained my costume each time, it made me really stop and remember what it means to make lemonade out of the lemons that life gives us. We need to take advantage of the opportunities that we are given. Sure, it would be a lot easier if life gave us the powdered lemonade where all we have to do is add water, but that doesn't teach us anything. We can learn from the situations we are put it, and what we learn can help us grow.
I found out when I'm going to graduate! I have two options: I can either do my internship near BYU and take my last few classes at the same time to graduate in April 2014, or I can take my last classes during winter semester 2014 and do my internship over the summer, which would give me the freedom to go wherever I want, and graduate in August 2014. Either way, that's not too far away! Crazy! I just need to remember do the best I can while in my program so that I can be the best intern ever and then get the best job ever! :)
My roommates and I went to the Mt. Timpanogos temple on Saturday. They are both endowed, so they went to do endowments while I did baptisms. While I was waiting to get checked in, a cute old lady was in front of me asking about getting the work done for her family names. The man at the desk turned to me and asked me if I wanted to be baptized for them. Of course I said yes! After I got changed, I got to know her. She is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met! When it was my turn to do baptisms, I felt her ancestors' presence with me as I went into the water. This experience made me remember that I need to focus on my family more. I need to research and find names in my family that need to be baptized. What must they be thinking when they see me doing names for all of these other families and ignoring them? Of course there is nothing wrong with doing other names, but when there is a chance to save my own family, I need to remember to take advantage of that. I'm so grateful that we have the knowledge in the church to perform these sacred ordinances to be together with our families forever, even members of our family who lived a long time ago.
The last BYU basketball exhibition game was on Saturday, and it even found a way to relate to my theme of the week. We dominated, of course. This one was at least more exciting than last week's. Craig Cusick was dominating from downtown! Anyway, Brandon Davies did something this game that made me respect him more than I normally do. He didn't forget one of his best friends. Davies wore the #41 at the game in honor of Chris Collinsworth, an old BYU basketball player who had to leave the team because of injuries. Davies and Chris played together at Provo High School and for a short time here at BYU. I was very impressed with Davies for donning Chris's old jersey to show everyone that we should remember what an amazing athlete Chris is. He will be missed on the team!
Davies wearing Chris's jersey
Church today was so great! This morning wasn't the best, and it was Fast Sunday, so I was starving. But I had very important things to fast about today. As the meetings went on, everything that people talked about was so amazing. I was definitely spiritually fed today. In Relief Society, especially. Recently, I've been throwing myself pity parties. It is the worst! I always feel lonely, unloved, and forgotten. Today, I felt the Spirit testify to me that Heavenly Father loves me. Whenever I feel down, I just need to remember that even if I don't feel loved by my roommates or my friends, Heavenly Father loves me, and my Savior died for me. I am LOVED! And guess what? So are YOU!
One last thought to leave you guys with: Brandon Davies (@0BrandonDavies) tweeted this scripture today in Helaman 5: 12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. Remember Christ. Build your foundation on Christ, and you will not fall. :)
PS: With this theme, how could I not put in the most obvious clip from my favorite movie of all time? Remember who you are!
