surprise!

So this morning I looked out my window and what did I see?!

SNOW!

It is pretty great... It started snowing last night as I wandered around with my roommates trying to find our other roommate Kathryn's tennis match, but stopped shortly after. Then this morning I woke up to a couple texts and checked the progress of the Prop 8 results until my friend told me to look outside. And this is what I saw:

^ all those are from my window

My first real snow!

I was VERY excited and am looking forward to the winter, but I need some decent shoes/boots and a good coat to stay warm and dry. But I'm loving it anyway! I am definitely not in the desert like back home.... Yay for a real winter in Utah!

snow and screams

SNOW:
A couple weeks ago we had our Homecoming here at BYU. There were many dances and activities throughout the week, but the main thing that I was a part of was RHA's float construction and the Saturday morning Homecoming Parade. The theme for the overall Homecoming was "Go the Distance" so our float's theme was "One [back]yard at a time" RHA's float committe came up with a great idea to make it like a backyard BBQ watching the game so we had a little grill under a canope actually grilling hot-dogs, a couch and a large screen TV "watching the game" with live players standing in the screen, a tree complete with a tire swing, and a bunch of us walking around with posters and playing catch. It was a lot of work to put it together, a lot of fun to be on suring the parade, and then it was torn down so fast. It always works like that doesn't it? hours to put together, and then all gone in a matter of minutes... but it was worth it because we actually got the BYU Bookstore Spirit Award for our float, so that was exciting! :)

The absolute best part though was the weather. We had to finish all the last touches on the float at 7 am before the parade and while we were getting all set up it SNOWED! We were very cold, despite our many layers, but I loved it! I was so happy and enjoying it- I had to keep explaining to people that I am from Southern California and that this is Amazing and new to me :D It didn't keep up all day, and despite the COLD weather none of it really stuck, but I enjoyed it all I could.

Under Construction

MUCH appreciated Hot Chocolate for all the parade people before it started

The glorious snow clouds

Kelsey [Heritage President] and me freezing and waiting

The first section of the float

The Back Section

Getting close and trying to stay warm

Tyson, Kelsey, and me walking behind the float in the parade

The Homecoming game was pretty good too. I had fun with a group of my roommates and a few friends Andrew and Aaron. It was SO cold at the game, but we beat New Mexico, so it was great!

Andrew, me, and Aaron

Katrina's friend Kellie, Katrina, and Madeline

SCREAMS:
Last Monday I got a call from my friend Kelsey from RHA [as seen in the pictures above] to go to a haunted house in American Fork. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I went with her and a few other cars full of some of her friends. We had coupons to get a combo pass to get into the Haunted Forest and the Psycho Manor, so we went through both of those and OH MY GOSH did I get scared. I didn't know anyone except Kelsey, but oh boy did I get close and make quick friends! I sat next to Lauren in the car and we were "arm buddies" as we went through the Psycho Manor. Also as we were going through the different rooms [featuring The Bates Motel from Psycho, Saw, and other creepy sets] we were behind one of the guys from our group that we didn't know. I did NOT want to get seperated from the group and get lost in one of the rooms, so i just grabbed onto him and kept together by placing my hand on his back. After we finally got out I introduced myself and thought it was funny that we didn't know each others' names until we were out. His name was Brady and he became Lauren's other arm buddy during the Haunted Forest.

Our group got split into two when we entered the Haunted Forest so Brady protected us during some parts and then for the other half our whole little group of about 8 people formed a chain where we were connected and wouldn't lose each other in the course. So I had Lauren and Brady connected to my left arm and then I was holding the hand of another guy Brent whom I became acquainted with as we were chased around. I held onto his hand the entire time because again I did not want to get seperated or stuck in the front or back of the group. We both got scared a lot and were squeezing and gripping on tight. A nice bonding experience to get to know another new freind Brent. It was over 40 minutes long in the Haunted Forest alone, so we were all freaking out and glad when the end finally came. It was so funny though how the guys got plenty scared themselves and it wasn't just Lauren and I screaming :) Oh boy can those guys scream too!
It was nice to come home and listen to my friend Andrew play Coldplay on the Piano to calm myself down and feel safe in the little piano room with my friends and let the fear subside. Besides getting startled a few times there was no permanent damage from the experience, just good memories :)

Kelsey and I before the fear

This giant monster scared me and terrorized us in line to buy the tickets

Most of our group [Im next to Lauren and Brent and Brady are right behind us]

Proposition 8

Its pretty hard for me to get so involved in the campaigning for Proposition 8, since I am away at college in Utah, but my sister is doing GREAT. She is putting on a contest on her blog that I think is amazing. Check it out and check out preservingmarriage.blogspot.com among others. I think it is absolutely necessary to get involved and be informed about the true issue that it going on here.
I am by no means a political person, but this is an important moral issue that I am willing do my part for. Please check out these sites and spread the word, get informed- because in this case ignorance is NOT bliss.

Tag- I'm it!

Heather called me on Saturday and told me that she had tagged me on her blog. She said I had to do it soon, but it was homecoming weekend, so here is my first chance.

7 random/weird things about myself:

1. I love crunching leaves. When Autumn comes and the leaves fall from the trees is pretty much my favorite time of the year. I seriously zig-zag across the sidewalk and aim for as many leaves as I can so that I can hear the satisfying CRUNCH. But there is nothing more sad than the times when I cross the walkway, position my foot just perfectly over the leaf, and then nothing happens when I make contact :(

2. I have had a couple of random obsessions throughout my life, and one of them was Napoleon Dynamite. When that movie came out I LOVED it! I have so many random memorabilia pieces that are stuffed around my room back home like a poster, CD case, bumper sticker, shirts, buttons etc etc. But nothing shows my past obsession more than the fact that I studied the movie and learned the dance he does for Pedro's election... I know, I know... I had no life ;) I had just about all of it down, and even taught it for a mutual activity to my ward. I still know just a bit of it and might perform it if persuaded/bribed.

3. My favorite shape is a star. I draw it all the time, or groupings of them [I actually did it on a napkin while talking to my roommates a few days ago]

4. I say "get outta here" ALL the time. I never realized it before my roommates brought it to my attention, but I just can't help it... it just happens.

5. Everyone comes to me for advice. I don't know why, but it has always happened. Lately it has increased though- I am giving advice on girls for guys and vice versa, what to say in a text, and pretty much anything else they have a problem with. I don't know how everyone knows to come to me, but they do and I like it. I love helping people, and I often have an opinion so it works out when they ask me what they should do/say. This has gone on for a while and a friend and I actually named it Triple H - Holly's Helping Hands :)

6. My favorite animal is a monkey, which is kind of ironic since my family called me monkey baby when I was little and I didn't like it

7. I have read each Harry Potter book in the entire series at least twice. The first 4 or 5 I have read at least three times, because I re-read all of the previous books when a new one came out, but the last two came out at busy times during high school so they have only been read twice [so far :)] I love that series...


I don't think I have 7 people to tag though, or even if 7 bloggers read this, so I'll just skip that part.... :)

so much fun

There has been a ton going over my first month of college, and I have found myself suddenly in my second month. And as my mom has pointed out- with no updates on here.

here we go:

Classes have been going great- however, there was a fair amount of stress 2 weeks ago when I had my first college paper due and last week when I had midterms in 5 classes. Pretty intense, but I got it done and did pretty well on them overall which is exciting.

Other news: I got a call late one afternoon and woken up from my nap by one of Heather's old mission companions who happens to be my Hall Adviser. She asked me if I would be willing to be the Tri-Hall representative for the RHA [Residence Halls Association]. I was half asleep, but I knew they were desperate for someone so I agreed without really knowing what it meant. It added a little Council Class to my schedule was about all I understood.
So now I am in the on-campus housing student council and it has been way fun. We went on a retreat to Salt Lake City for training Sept 26th and 27th and I met a whole bunch of awesome new friends. While there we played games, did trust exercises, climbed Ensign Peak, and learned about our responsibilities. Good stuff :)

At the base of the trail

The Salt Lake Valley from half-way up

Hanging out up top with Stephen, Austin, and Katy

Playing on the largest twister mat EVER

Conference Weekend: I had SO MUCH fun this weekend, it was amazing. I must say that General Conference weekend was the best weekend of all so far. My friend Andrew had tickets to the Sunday Afternoon session and invited me to go with him, which i excitedly said yes to because I had never been before. He had asked me the Sunday before, but then later in the week when i received the news that my Uncle Mike had passed away I was no longer planning on attending. I hit a rough patch and had some difficulties the next couple of days, but was then unable to fly home as originally planned because the funeral was scheduled for the following Tuesday rather than Saturday. That was hard to accept- that I was staying in Utah because of my classes, but it all worked out in the end.
It ended up that I was able to go with Andrew to Conference after all. So, saturday it rained all day [amazing weather], I enjoyed watching the conference sessions with a few of my roommates, and then Andrew and I drove to Sandy, UT to stay with another friend [and Andrew's roommate] Will at his home. This allowed us to get to Salt Lake easier between sessions and minimize stress. We had a great time with Will and another friend/roommate Aaron watching Groundhog Day and playing in the basement with cameras and giant bean bags. We were up quite late, and then I got to sleep in Will's little brother David's room and the guys slept in Will's brother Peter's room.

one of many action shots. Top to bottom: Aaron, Andrew, Will

me and the guys playing "dress up" around 3 am

In the morning we watched conference with Will's family and enjoyed a large and very delicious breakfast, got ready, and drove to Salt Lake. Conference was amazing!
All of the talks from all weekend were great, but it was such an awesome experience to be in the same room with the Prophet of the Lord and all of the General Authorities. The talks were wonderful, again, and I really feel like I was spiritually strengthened.
After the Conference was adjourned Andrew and I took a little tour around the Conference Center and Temple Square. I had never been to the Salt Lake Temple, so Andrew toured me around showing me so many great and beautiful sights/statues/monuments. I am so grateful for that, it was astounding. Afterwards I drove Andrew to visit his grandparents in West Jordan and then we met up with Will and Aaron again before finally heading home.

The view from our great seats at the Conference Center

Gordon B. Hinckley in the Hall of the Prophets in the Conference Center

Salt Lake Temple

Andrew and I in the Visitor's Center at Temple Square

The day was finished up with our weekly tradition of Tunnel singing with many other students in the tunnel in front of the Marriott Center. Every Sunday night a large group of students cram into the tunnel and sing hymns for an hour. It is a favorite event of my roommates and I, and a great way to start the week.

I know this post was really long, but there was just so much- Although I am saddened by the death of my Uncle Mike I am grateful for my family and friends who have comforted me, for the knowledge that I have of the Gospel that helps me know that I will see my Uncle again, for my good friends who have helped me see the joy in life, and for the wonderful opportunity that I had to listen to the counsel of the Prophet and Apostles and General Authorities.

I'm 'Back in Black'

Well, maybe not quite 'black' but I definitely got a tan at Lake Powell! But since it is now September, my tan is not what it used to be :/ I'm sorry for not posting this a month and a half ago, but it was a crazy summer and I had to prioritize, with blogging falling down a couple of spots- despite Heather's threats. So- Im currently up at school in Provo and loving it, with a little free time so I'm FINALLY posting this. Here ya go:

So I'll just jump right in- Powell was AWESOME! We left around noon on July 11 [Derek's Birthday] and arrived in Page, AZ around 9 pm. The drive wasn't too bad, I enjoyed driving from Mesquite to Page in my Aunt Jeanine's very nice car. We met up with the Murdocks next to the Sonic restaurant in Page, ate, and then went to the boat launch to transfer all our goods from the cars to the houseboat. Thankfully Al, a friend of Mike and Amy and fellow time-share owner of the FunTime, docked the houseboat for us so that we could unload everything on shore instead of ferrying people and bags with the ski boat to the buoy where its normally tied down.
The night was spent organizing and packing up the houseboat and then we just slept there with the houseboat tied to the dock. Very early the next morning I awoke as the FunTime was making its way to our favorite Cove by Cookie Jar. It was very cold so i moved to a bunk inside and slept some more.
After getting a spot and anchoring in- the fun began! We all had fun reading, wakeboarding, skiing, tubing, banana boating, sleeping, eating, playing Wizard and Hearts, wake surfing, and just about anything else we wanted to do. There wasn't as many people this year because of work, illness, and pregnancy but those of us who did come had a great time! The weather wasn't too hot this year, surprisingly, so that was nice. We had a fair amount of rain that brought us all to cozily sleep inside together- very cozily! and of course some fun storms, my favorite :)
We ended up staying a total of 13 days on the FunTime, with a handful of people leaving after about a week. I had a great time and ended up taking SO many pictures, so to make it easier I made a slideshow to show some highlights from the trip. Enjoy!

Life at the Y

Well, I was absolutely terrified of coming up to College at BYU Provo. I was so nervous and anxious and worried about everything. And I was sad about leaving my family and being states away from them [over 614 miles to be exact].

But all of this didn't really hit me until Monday/Tuesday when I was literally packing all my belongings and starting my goodbyes. That was hard.... And I didn't even get to say all the goodbyes that i wanted. Time FLEW by at the end and before I knew it I was on my way.

I hung out with friends Monday, and then Monday night I hung out with Nathan and Ashley while I packed all my clothes and fell asleep in the process. The next day I finished packing, saw Naomi and my awesome nephews, packed my room at my dads, and cried. When it hit me it HIT me. But then I was pretty good for the rest of the day. My mom and I finally headed out around 5-ish and I drove straight through to Saint George. We got there about midnight Utah time, and I realized that I had just permanently lost an hour of my life.

My packed car about to head on to Provo

The next morning we continued on to Provo, which seemed like an extremely long drive! I was so anxious to get there! I didn't eat anything all the way, and started getting really jittery and bouncy in anticipation as I drove the distance from Saint George. As we finally got to Provo my mom took a video of me with her phone as we wandered around near where I knew my dorm was and attempted to find my building and where to check in.
After a couple of loops we found where to go and we made many trips to unpack my full little car and set up my new room. Only one of my roommates was already there and set up so it was great finally meeting her and I was so excited to get all situated.

The door of my dorm with all my roomies' names

before

empty closet before

All done!

The finished product

After everything was generally in place, I got my BYU ID/Signature card which allows me to get food and prove I am indeed a Cougar Student and then went to New Student Orientation. My mom took my car and drove to stay with her good friend Karen from way back when while I went on a tour of the campus and met some cool girls who live in my hall. After the tour they fed us a delicious BBQ sandwich and mashed potatoes. It was SO GOOD, but we think our tired and hungry stomachs were a little bit biased. I then just sat in a group with some girls from my group and some roommates waiting for the movie to start out on the field. While chilling, these two guys walked up to us and introduced themselves. They were really funny and outgoing and had us laughing instantly. We found out that they lived like 50 feet from our building so they invited us to their place to watch a better movie. So we did :)
It was 6 or 7 girls and 2 guys, then their other roommates slowly filtered in too as well as some other new friends of theirs. We watched "She's the Man" and laughed a lot. At about 11:30 we headed out with lots of exchanged numbers and new friends. A great first night of the college life :D

Day 2 involved another tour of the rest of campus, a couple really good talks, and some more free food. I got to get to know my roommates better as we went to Walmart for food together and to get some supplies that no one had brought. We learned to be more organized the next time we went shopping :) Lists are helpful... lol. That night we were invited to go swimming with one of my roommates friends who lives off-campus. He is her older brother's best friend and he picked us up to take us to his place. Only 5 of us went- Katrina started work the next day at 6:30 am, so she decided not to come.
Dani and I decided that we didn't want to get our hair wet and have mascara run down our faces so we stayed near the edge, but Eric made it his goal to dunk us. We fought and delayed it, but there's not much use in fighting a buff 6'5" basketball player in a pool. Needless to say our hair was not dry for very long. But after that we made a bet with Eric that if us 5 girls could dunk him, that he would have to buy us all ice cream. It wasn't easy, and he wasn't trying very hard- if at all- to resist, but we did it!
After we got too cold, cause it was night time by the time we got to the pool, we dressed and proceeded to another apartment complex to play outside nightgames with some people that Eric had met. That was fun too. We were there for a couple hours until people started going home, so Eric then drove us to a grocery store to purchase us our winnings- a gallon container of Cookies'n'Cream ice cream. YUM. We went to our dorm and stayed on the front patio with our ice cream and 6 spoons since visiting hours were long over by this time. Not the most sanitary method, but very delicious- especially at like 1 am.
I was also hanging out with Sarah and Elise from my building with Mitch [one of the guys from NSO who walked up to us] on the other patio for a while. It was a long night that ended with me finding the rest of my roommates and Eric swing dancing in the parking lot. Til 3 am. Good times!

Day 3 my mom picked up my sister from the airport and we enjoyed some Cafe Rio together and did a little shopping before Heather stayed with a good friend, I returned to my dorm, and my mom went back to Karen's house. My roommates were at a volleyball game and hanging out with Eric again so I met up with some other gals from my building and we got a group of people to play Apples to Apples in our lobby. Then just bumming around til about 4 am when we finally slept- just like the other nights.

Day 4, Saturday, we slept in and went to the football game against North Iowa where BYU won spectacularly. I had a good time with my roommates and other friends that we met up with [Mitch and his buddies] and I enjoyed my first of many Cougar games.

From left to right: me, Katrina, Karina, and Danielle

The Cougars rushing onto the field

Mitch and I after the game

Afterwards we went to a BBQ at a park by the temple with like a bajillion people. Eric had orchestrated it and even though it was dark and very windy we had a blast. There's a huge hill there that people rolled down and sat on enjoying the thunderstorm in the distance and the wind that reminded me of home :) It nearly blew us off the hill. We were joined by Mitch and a few of his roomies who walked there to meet us. Lots of rolling and playing the game "smurf" later I joined the guys on their walk home so that I'd be able to shower for church the next day before my roommates got home. Those guys are crazy and hilarious! We had quite and adventurous walk home, not to mention the giant rain drops that started falling and the lightning right above or heads! Way better than Palmdale :)
I had a good time with them and then enjoyed a nice chat with Mitch [on the porch of course] til my roomies returned. The rain and thunder continued and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Some of the group on the hill

Day 5, Sunday, we attended our ward- which is only 1/3 males - and enjoyed playing UNO, visiting with my sister who showed up on my doorstep while I was at church, and eating our first Sunday meal together.

Day 6, Labor Day, I purchased all of my textbooks with my mom and we picked up Heather in Midville, UT. We made a detour to Layton so that Heather could check out a wedding dress, which she ended up purchasing, and then I drove them both to the airport. We said our final goodbyes and I was officially on my own in Utah with access to my car. I was excited. I thought that I would have gotten really sad at that point, but my college life had already encompassed me and I was ready for it. No more fear. No more anxiety. Just happiness and a sense of adventure and freedom, I was hooked and enjoying it.
I got back to Provo and joined in my ward's FHE and then hung out with Mitch watching "The Italian Job" my last night before classes started. I didn't go to bed as early as I maybe should have, but at least it wasn't 4 am like all the other nights ;)

My first days up at college were AMAZING. I had such a good time and made so many new friends, did so many things, and had so much fun that it felt like a week or two. I'm loving life and am so glad that I get along with all of my roommates so well. We all are so similar in our craziness and senses of humor, they are all so great. In the next couple days I'll get some pictures of them all up here so that you will be able to put a name to the face of my new friends. I'm having a blast and can't wait to see what comes next :D