Christmas Series #4

Two of my favorite traditions of Christmas are:  

1. Eating at Siegfried's Delicatessen.  

Even though we're not a huge fan of the food we go because it's nostalgic for Dad 

who served his mission in Frankfurt

and

2. The annual family tamale party at the Crowleys home

Christ Lives

When the firemen could start retrieving things from inside the Provo Tabernacle after it almost completely burned down two days ago, they brought a badly charcoaled picture outside.  KSL.com had a photograph online of some firemen looking at the badly burned picture.  The picture was completely black, except for Christ himself.  I don't think it was a coincidence that Christ survived the fire.  In the midst of all the devastation, one thing was wasn't destroyed was Christ's presence.  It is a reminder that He lives and is there for us through the thick and thin.

 

Much needed study break

What we can accomplish in a 5 minute break:

Ugh....now back to the books.

Less than 24 hours until...

Two finals down. Two to go. Two more days.

Today started off pretty well.  I felt really good about my final.  I went into the testing center confident and feeling prepared.  Coming out of the test?  Well... I felt like I had at least gotten at B.  I will just say that although my score wasn't quite in that range, I am still near the curve.  Phew, I'm just glad that certain class is over!

After my final I went to sellback my textbooks.  At the beginning of the semester I spent $200+ on books...guess how much I got back?  A lousy $12.  What is up with that?!  And the $12 was for a book we maybe read out of twice this whole semester.

On the bright side I only have two more dreadful days and two finals.

HALLELUJAH

Wish me luck.

and...
2 more days until I'm back in the great valley of Salt Lake.

I CAN'T WAIT!

Although, I will miss these crazies:

Finals

I just studied 3+ hours with two of my girlfriends for my American Heritage final tomorrow.

Those 3 hours plus the time I studied earlier better pay off!

p.s.  I'm so excited only 3 more days until I get to go home!!!

Vent Session Coming Your Way!

So you know those caricatures that are at every theme park in the nation?

 Well tonight I went to the dance at the Cannon Center to celebrate the last day of classes and they had 5 people drawing caricatures.  We got in line at 10:30.  Tess and I stayed in line for an 1 1/2 hours...in high heels.  Well at 11:50 the lady in charge told us that there was a possibility that we wouldn't get done.  I said to Tess earlier "watch, the people in front of us will get done but we won't."  Well we waited and waited.  Finally the people in front of us sat down in the chairs.

 There was still hope!  

Well the lady again advised us to just go enjoy the last 5 minutes of the dance because at that point there was no way we would get done.  So we took her advice and left....well.  This is where I get miffed.  We left the line, the people behind us got out of line, but two random girls behind them went and sat down.

Yes folks, Tess and I waited in line for 90 minutes in heels, we were told to leave so we did, and then some people behind us got their picture done.   Man, I rarely get mad in front of my friends but I'm so MAD!!!!

Of course, my luck!

I'm still fuming!  But hopefully I'll wake up in a better mood than I am in right now.

p.s. Thanks for listening to my sob story

I'm Proud to be an American

Today was the last day of my first semester in college.  

I'm not going to lie, I teared up in American Heritage and Political Science.

My American Heritage teacher greeted us with a video montage with pictures of America
while playing the song "Slice" by Five For Fighting.

Later I went to PoliSci we were covering current events.
Most of the hour was spent talking about radical Islamism.
I was feeling pretty depressed because of all the horrible things happening in the world today,
but then Sister Kern bore her testimony on America.
The spirit was so strong in that room.
She finished the class with a video montage.
This video doesn't do justice to the video shown in class but I couldn't find that one.
I left class feeling so patriotic.

                                

I'm grateful for America.


I'm grateful for the privilege to worship my Heavenly Father and practice my religion freely.


I'm grateful for Sister Kern, for her passion about politics and America in general, and for the time she spent into creating her presentations.  I'm sad this was her last semester teaching, but I'm glad I took the class from her before she left.


I'm grateful for our armed forces who put their lives on the line everyday to preserve our freedoms.


I'm especially grateful for my cousin Troy, who has dedicated the last five years to the Army and spent a tour of duty in Iraq.


I'm grateful for our Founding Fathers and truly believe they were inspired of God.


All in all, I am proud to be an American!!!!

Christmas Series #3

My family knows that I am OBSESSED with glass Christmas ornaments.  Well...I am.


So far I have added 3 to my collection this year....

Tests, tests, and more tests

Adieu Facebook.  Adieu YouTube.  Adieu movies.

See you after finals!!!

Pretty much adios to ANYTHING on my computer that will distract me from studying.

There should be a minimum speed limit

I think they should put these up all over campus!!!  Going between classes would be so much easier.

J. Biebs

In a world where it is becoming increasingly taboo to talk about religion, it is refreshing to see a teen idol express his belief in God.



My love for Justin Bieber has just become greater than it was before!

The Countdown Begins

Today I can finally start this:

It's been at least 7 years since I've had an advent calendar.  My mom stopped buying me one when I was 12!

Quote of the Day

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day."


- Elder Richard G. Scott

The so called blizzard of Nov. 23, 2010

Before:

After:

Sunday School

So I am a Gospel Doctrine Instructor for my ward.  Last week they passed around a roll in the class and said that it would be their permanent class.  Well I think I bore all the boys last week because only 2 out of about 15 returned this week.  Oh well.

Dear...

Mom and Dad,

     Thank you for letting 5 (6 including me) Harry Potter fans crash at home last night!...and thanks for waking up at 3 A.M. to pick us up from the theater just so we didn't have to drive and wait in the parking lot all night to get out!...and thanks for making food for us and providing us with something of substance.

Daniel Radcliffe,

     If you know you are going to be shirtless on screen for millions of people to see don't you think you could invest some of your HP earnings towards a fake tan or a gym pass, preferably both?  I mean hey, we're paying to see your movies so you might as well look decent in them!  Please, it would be much appreciated.

Salt Lake,

     Why do you have to be so great and why do you have to be so far away?  47 miles is too large of a distance between us.  I can't wait to be with you again in 4 days! I miss you.

Directionally Challenged People,

    Get your directions right.  Today I have heard 3 of you say you are going down to Salt Lake this weekend.  I don't know where you're going down, but it's not Salt Lake because Salt Lake is UP.  So stop saying "I'm going down to Salt Lake City" because you're not, you're going UP to Salt Lake.  Please, do me a favor so I won't be tempted to correct you next time.

American Heritage TA,

     What is your secret to being a great teacher?  Can you just TA for all of my classes?

Jamba Juice,

     I propose you make your seasonal Pumpkin Smash a permanent item.  Although I like your holiday season Berried'n Chocolate smoothie, your Pumpkin Smash could totally smash (or sweep) it off the menu.

                                                                                           Sincerely yours,

                                                                                           Abigail Barker

More than just a turkey day

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  But Thanksgiving can and should be celebrated more than one day a year.  We should all live in Thanksgiving daily.  There are so many things to be thankful for the more I see them the more they become invisible to me and the more I become immune to seeing how blessed I really am.  I have so many things to be thankful for but one thing I'm extremely thankful for  is this:   

LDS Biscotti Lovers Unite

A couple of weeks ago my family went up to Liberty, Utah for a family dinner.  My mom was suppose to bring some Halloween dessert for everyone.  My dad had a $3 off coupon for biscotti's at Costco and really wanted to buy some.  My mom refused saying "we don't need those Bruce."  He however began to talk nonstop about biscotti's and how we just needed to get orange ribbon to tie around the biscotti's and voila, we've got biscotti Halloween desserts.
My mom, crazy at the thought shunned the idea and bought carrot cake instead.  Well dad thought the $3 coupon was too good to pass up so we ended up buying them anyway.  All the way up to Liberty we had a discussion on what biscotti's were eaten with, tea.
Here is part of the humorous discussion that Erin and I witnessed in the car. I might mix up some words a bit but this was the general idea of how the conversation went down:
Mom: "Bruce, I can't believe you bought those.  Who wants to eat rock hard cookies when they don't have tea to dip them in?"
Dad: "Well Mormon's dip them in Hot Chocolate.  Bonnie, you should blog about these biscotti's."
Mom: "Why? (insert some other witty comment that I don't remember)"
Dad: "Fine, I'll just start my own blog called LDS Biscotti Lovers Unite.  I think we'd get a lot of hits."

Dad, the founder of LDSbiscottiloversunite

Well folks if you are LDS and love biscotti's inform my dad because he would love to blog about it with you!

Christmas Series #2

Favorite Christmas movies:

"Mr. Krueger's Christmas" is probably the saddest Christmas movie I have ever seen.  I bawl every time I watch this.  It's only about 25 minutes long but it's by far the best Christmas movie ever, and it has a great spiritual message.

Every Christmas season my sisters and I watch "Eloise at Christmastime" at least once.  It's a total little girl movie but hey, you can NEVER be too old for Eloise!

Elf! Need I say more?

My favorite Christmas movie from my childhood.  It's just a feel good movie!

Could my day get any worse? Why yes, yes it could!

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling confident that my day would go very well. I had two tests that I was prepared for. I woke up early so I could get some more homework done and go to breakfast with my roommate. We got ready to go eat when I couldn't find my ID/meal card anywhere. It had to be in the room because I hadn't been anywhere else....I searched for 1 1/2 hours, refolding my clothes, checking in all my books, unmaking my bed.....no where. I was panicking because I had TWO test to take. I went to go buy a new one and the guy said to just take my drivers license to take the test and then come back in a week or two if I don't find it. I left and a couple minutes later realized that I needed a card to eat. Well I felt stupid going straight back in there so I went and took my first test. I left my first test still feeling pretty good. I didn't get an amazing score but I did do 25% better than my first test in that class (which tells you have bad my first test went).

I went back to the ID center and told the lady that I wanted to buy a new one.  This lady told me just to print out a picture of my ID so when I go to eat they ca just enter my ID #.  So I left with a printout of my picture and number.  Now I have to haul around this huge honking paper with my face on it.  I'm going back later today to buy a stupid ID card for $10. Or like Rachel said to me, "stick it to the man...and tell them you just want to buy a new one." From there I went to the library to get some last minute studying in.  I could feel a headache coming on but I didn't have any ibuprofen with me so I just stuck it out, hoping it would go away.

Around 5 P.M. I headed to the Grant BuildingWell took my second test which wasn't too bad.  After getting home I went to Wal-Mart with the Rachels where my roommate Rachel and I bought mini white Christmas lights for our room.  I can't wait to put them up.

Around 8 P.M. I went to dinner at the Cannon Center.  They don't close until 9 but by 8 P.M. when we got there all the food was virtually gone.  So we had the most eclectic dinner I think I've ever had.  We had a tiny bit of soup (which was cold I might add), some waffle, some olives from the salad bar because that was the ONLY thing left there, and some frozen ice cream/yogurt.  We were so mad, yet were having fun because who knew we would be eating a little bit of breakfast, appetizers, and dessert for a so called "dinner".  My friend had never had Barqs red creme soda either so she wanted me to come try it with her.  I told her to go first and warned her it was very sweet.  She looked at me and said it tasted funny.  I thought she just wasn't use to the taste but then I tried it....even the soda was out of flavoring.  All in all the Cannon was a disappointment and just made my day a little worse than it already was.

After dinner I came home and headed to the basement to watch "Parenthood" with Rachel.  That was going perfectly well (minus the lights were hurting my head because of the headache that had progressively gotten worse throughout the day) when with 15 minutes left of the show I started having horrible stomach pains.

I went back up and called me mom because who likes being away from home when they're sick? I can't think of anyone. At this point I had a splitting headache, I felt like I was going to be sick, I had the chills, and I was shaking from head to toe.Sorry this was a very long shpeal about my day which now that I look back wasn't that horrible but if you were in my shoes, you would feel the same way.

Among all the bad things that went on yesterday, I did have a few good things happen.

1. While studying with my friend, I told her about my lost ID card.  We went to get lunch before heading to the testing center.  She insisted on buying my lunch, which was much appreciated.  Thanks Kim!
2. Even though dinner last night was horrible and probably made me more sick than I already was, it was nice to finally eat with a different friend who always asks me out to lunch, but I always have to decline because of my weird schedule.  Thanks Elizabeth!

Well I hope today goes better than yesterday did.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

p.s. 8 days until Harry Potter and 15 until Thanksgiving/my birthday...but who's counting?!

I can't believe it's been 1 YEAR!

So proud of my missionary sister

Exactly one year ago today my sister Brooke left on her mission.  It seems like yesterday...I remember the day vividly, even the time of day and what we ate for lunch (Einstein's on University Pkwy.)  The night before we ate our last family dinner at Cafe Rio.

***

Only six more months until she's home from Puerto Rico.  I can't wait to meet her at the airport.

***

I don't have favorite sisters but everyone in my family will admit that she and I are alike in many ways.  I'll sure be glad to have her home again.

the fam bam (minus the Ratch)

Christmas Series #1

As my family knows I am a sucker for anything Christmas, even in July.  Every now and then I will be sharing a few of my favorite Christmas music, movies, activities, etc.  I'll start out with music.

My family tells me that I shouldn't be able to listen to Christmas music until November 1st. Well family, today is November 1st, which means in my opinion it is Christmas season.  This morning I woke up and celebrated by listening to Christmas music while getting ready for class.
Here are a few of my favorite Christmas cds:

SheDaisy
A Brand New Year
(sorry for the horrible quality)

Good choice when decorating the house

              

p.s. How are you suppose to catch/kill a fly in your dorm room if you don't own a flyswatter?  I don't know how, but we have 2 flies in our window

FIRST SNOW

Last night I got a knock on my door from a very excited friend Annie X.  She ran to my window and we looked outside.  It was SNOWING!  Later she said she came to me first because as a fellow Gilmore Girls fan I would understand the importance of the first snow.  Isn't it magical? Well we ran outside with some other enthusiasts and there were about 100 other Freshman taking it in as well.  You could definitely tell who had and who hadn't seen snow before. 

You may think the girl in the purple had never seen it before and didn't know what was coming, but no she's an Alaskan....she's that used to the cold.

 It had mostly melted by the time I went to bed....but this morning I woke up to this:

view from my window

ok,ok, it doesn't look like that much but trust me it's better in person.  I accidentally left my camera at home so I had to take a picture with my phone.

So to celebrate, I am getting ready for the day while listening to Christmas music.  As SheDaisy says in their song The Secret of Christmas, "Christmas is in the air!" At least it is for me.  Snow is magical and I absolutely love this time of year and not just because my birthday and Christmas are coming up.  But because of everything that the Christmas season entails.

WELCOME WINTER!!!!  (but I'll miss FALL, since we never really had one)

I know I've already posted but I found this post from a long time ago but I thought it was kinda funny.

*****

September 13:
      "Now I get to sit in my room and listen to my next-door-neighbor talk on her phone about how girl squirrels are smart.  Weird...but at least it's entertaining."


....and boy was it entertaining

*****

oh and today my family woke up to this shocking sight:

One of the two old trees in front of my house couldn't handle the wind anymore and decided to attack my sister's Rav4 and Audi on its way down.

I loved this old tree.  I have many childhood memories of this tree.  [Mostly] no one will understand this list but this tree makes me think of shopping carts, drive thru windows, dogs, and sledding.

The only person outside of my family (or at all) who I think has the same feelings for this tree as I do is Annie T.

I know the view from my window won't be the same anymore.

R.I.P old tree.

Even though you caused much damage to some cars in your last living moments, I still love you and will miss you dearly!