peanut butter--bikes--and boys

as i make a sad attempt at finishing unpacking the remainder of my belongings i am musing about this past year and decided to take a break from my diligent focus on the task at hand...it has been a speedy two semesters but i've learned a lot, including about needs and wants...there are three things i could not have survived this year without: peanut butter, my bike, and boys....it would disgust anyone if i counted the number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches i ate this year...my bike was my mode of transportation and it was wonderful! i had a basket for my backpack and it only took 15 minutes to school and 7 home...living with girls is not easy to say the least...so much hair, attitude, perfume, estrogen, all packed into a box-sized apartment...i really came to understand that boys and girls truly cannot live without each other...that is why all of the people i hung out with were boys...i don't know how much they loved me being the only girl most of the time, but i won't lie, having 5-8 guys to hang out with on the weekends without having to deal with any girls was a huge blessing...anyway, here are some highlights (and low) from the year...

• the halloween dance...it was the first social event i attended at byu and i went with emmett who had asked me out almost every weekend since the semester started...i was just playing hard to get...actually, it was the first weekend i decided to actually stay in provo and do something, and it taught me that i can find normal people in provo, and i liked hanging out with emmett cause he thought i was funny (even though i wasn't trying to be funny, that's just how i dance)





• the first snow...none of my roommates have lived where there was snow that stuck on a regular basis, so we did a snow dance and had hot chocolate and donuts at midnight...the next night (or sometime thereafter) it snowed!





• dating logan--despite the fact that he's not the nicest person on the face of the earth, dating him really was fun while it lasted...plus i learned a lot from the whole experience, including how to throw a punch (no-i never used it on him, but if the need presented itself at least i knew how)...
• volunteering at the youth detention center really was the highlight of every week...we worked with short-term boys...i use the term "worked" loosely - basically it was our job to come up with some sort of activity to do with them every week and it was a blast! the boys really were great with the biggest hearts and they loved having us there...and our group was amazing! we became good friends and want to volunteer together again in the fall...(picture of the group hopefully coming soon)
  
  
  
• the crazy stuff i did with the alta boys (mom's old students)...they became my closest friends who i hung out with every weekend...they were good at coming up with unconventional ways to have fun....from shaving cream wars, blowing up stuff in a microwave from D.I.,
  
  
  swimming in the hot springs to brandon farting on me, sitting around talking, or making a mess of ryan and steve's kitchen! i'm looking forward to the summer, we just got back today from camping at little sahara-what an adventure! (pictures of camping coming soon)

• the rex lee run! i suggest that anyone that goes to byu, do it! lani and i leisurly jogged it, finished in a sufficient amount of time (meaning like 40 minutes), came home and made chocolate chip pancakes...it really was like a big party!





• byu splash 'n dash (see related story below)
• spending my life in the library for the month before finals...i really ate 2 meals a day there and took naps--it's weird, but so fun!

i'm glad to be home...i missed my despo sisters so much and kerri and i have way too much fun beating up on each other, and congrats to mattie and scott-i'm so stoked about my new nephew! but i feel pretty great about life now that i survived freshman year...i've heard it gets easier, and one of the hardest parts of life is over...and the weird thing is, i actually enjoyed it sometimes! (don't tell anyone, but i think in 4 months i'll even be excited to go back...)
peace+love