It is Christmas time?

Finals are over and now it is Christmas time.

{Taken by Christina Clark 12.18.11}

It just doesn't feel like Christmas time yet. It hasn't really snowed. There isn't snow in Provo so to me it hasn't snowed because that is where I live. Even though I am home for the break and there is some snow on the ground here, it hasn't snowed yet. I just want it to dump. A complete dump of white and wintry goodness called snow. We did get a nice blanket of frost all over though. Mom got some beautiful pictures of them today. She put them on Facebook and I stole them from her to show you here.

It hasn't really registered that I don't have class at seven in the morning this week. Yes, I still have work but what? I don't have class in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow? I am happy that this semester is over.

{Taken by Christina Clark 12.18.11}

A part of me has realized that the semester is over. What part you may ask? My health. I am making a doctors appointment tomorrow to see what is wrong with me. My cough, that ever annoying cough that is dry, has become more of a nuisance than ever before. I now have a pain along my fifth false rib on the left side. Whenever I cough the pain comes back and then lingers for a little while. I have been through a lot of pain in my life but I would have to say that this is topping the charts in pain. I am afraid that I have Pneumonia or something horrid like it. Is it bad timing? Yes it is. It could have come during finals week instead of when I am home with nothing to do other than work. It just means that I probably can't go to work for a few days. :( I like work. I have fun there and I get paid. I am happy there so I am sad that if I do have something bad, like said Pneumonia, that I wouldn't be able to go in.

I finished most of my Christmas shopping Yesterday and I have to say, I am great at getting presents for other people. I have three more people that I need to get something for. The three hardest people are left so this may get interesting. I have Jess and his family this year for Christmas and I think they will love their present. It is quite a stroke of genius on my part. ;)

{Blanket made by Celeste Goodrich}

Gillian, I needed to show you this picture. Do you like this blanket? It is a baby blanket that Celeste made. She doesn't have anyone to give it to an said that if you liked it you could have it. I like it. If I were pregnant and due soon, I would take it but I am not. So let me know {It isn't the best picture FYI}.


To finish off this post, I would just like to say Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents, James and Christina. If I remember correctly, this marks the 42nd year that they have been married {Their actual anniversary is tomorrow, not today}. I love you both so much! Thank you for all of the things that you have done, do, and will continue to help me with. I wish I had a more current picture, but I don't.

{Taken by Michelle Clark 6.13.10}

Last Lesson I teach for the Ward!

Okay, so this is really random post probably but I needed some way to get my thoughts and notes for my lesson down. This is a very organized lesson plan. A really long lesson. Sorry if you get bored or don't understand. haha This is just so I have these notes and don't loose them for my lesson at 9:30 in the morning. :) Bah! This is my last lesson for this ward so I want to really make it count.


Chapter 18 - The Mission of the Twelve
The Twelve Called to Britain:

• First Call of the Church: Heber C. Kinball and Orson Hyde to England in 1837
• John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, Willard Richards called to the Twelve and given charge "to go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, the fulness thereof, and bear record of my name" (D&C 118:4) Were to leave April 26, 1839
• April 26, 1839 came around - temple corner stones were placed instead of them leaving. The prophecy was fulfilled.
• The men left on July 22, 1839 - after the malaria epidemic.

The Missionaries Depart

• Wilford Woodruff was still sick with Malaria when he departed.
• "Brother Joseph, the Prophet of God, came a long and looked at me. 'Well, Brother Woodruff,' said he, 'you have started upon your mission.' 'Yes,' said I, 'but I feel and look more like a subject for the dissecting room than a missionary.' Joseph replied: 'What did you say that for? Get up, and go along; all will be right with you'" 
• Brigham Young and  Heber C. Kimball left on September 18, 1839. So ill they had to be helped into the wagon. All of the Kimball household were bedridden except four-year old Heber Parley, who could just manage to carry water to the sick.  (Read what he said in response) (Video - Starting at 3:34)
• Ten year anniversary of the Church's organization - The other members of the Twelve (excluding Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, and Theodore Turley) reached the shores of England.

Impact of the Twelve's Mission to Britain

• Phenomenal growth during 1840-
• By April 1841, membership grew more than 4,300 since their first conference one year earlier. It had also grown nearly 2,200 since the October conference. Membership went from 1,115 to 5,864 in a year.
• Emigration of British Saints to America began
• Didn't need any urging to emigrate
• 1,000 saints emigrated early in 1841
• Important time of training and maturing for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Four future presidents of the Church - Presidents Young, Taylor, Woodruff, and Snow - worked together in the British Mission.

Missionaries to the Pacific

• The missionaries returned from Britain and were called to direct the missionary work of the Church world wide.
• Four men called to take the gospel to the islands of the Pacific Ocean
• Addison Pratt and Benjamin Grouard (had both been sailors in the Pacific) joined with Noah Rogers and Knowlton Hanks (Hanks died from TB on the voyage)
• Addison Pratt stayed in Tubuai as a permanent minister, and work was expanding rapidly.
• Grouard and Rogers went to Tahiti and other islands where work was much slower than Tubuai
• Rogers sailed back to America and returned to Nauvoo after vague reports of violence towards the Church in Illinois. (feared for the safety of his family)
• Grouard found success on the atoll of Anaa. Learned Tahitian and adapted to the culture of the island. 

Read last paragraph as summary for chapter. 

Chapter 19 - Life in Nauvoo the Beautiful
The Lord's Call to Build a City

• Have someone read the chapter details of D&C 124 - What they were told to do to build the city Nauvoo the Beautiful

Building the City Beautiful

• Evolution of the homes in Nauvoo:
• Huts, tents, a few abandoned buildings to frontier log cabins, to frame homes, to substantial brick homes
• Construction became Nauvoo's principal industries and employed hundreds of craftsmen.
• Several brickyards.
• Encouraged to plant and cultivate fruit and shade trees, vines, and brushes on their large lots.
• The temple captured the most enthusiasm
• five year construction (from cornerstones being laid to dedication)
• April 6th - corner stones were laid down
• One day in ten as tithing labor.

Economic Growth in Nauvoo

• Agriculture was the main economic enterprise in Nauvoo and surrounding LDS communities.
• Eager immigrants quickly helped Nauvoo to become a bustling and productive community.
• Stark contrast to the economicly depressed Illinois
• Small shops and factories:
• Sawmills, brickyards, lime kiln, tool factory, printing offices, flour mills, bakeries, tailor shops, blacksmiths, shoe shops, carpenters and joiners shop, cabinetmakers shops.
• Craftsmen produced matches, leather goods, rope and cord, gloves, bonnets, pottery, jewelry, and watches.
• Banded together to set prices.

Education and Society in Nauvoo

• School only cost $1.50 to $3.00 per term.... if only right?
• University of the City of Nauvoo
• Parley P. Prat: English, Mathematics and Sciences
• Orson Pratt: English Literature and Mathematics.
• Most popular professor. Offered courses in Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, navigation, analytical geometry, calculus, philosophy, astronomy, and chemistry.
• Orson Spencer: Foreign Languages
• Sidney Rigdon: Church History
• Gustavus Hills: Music
• University was at the initial stages of development when Saints were forced from Illinois
• important precedent was set for teh involvement of the Church in higher education in the future. (BYU, U of U)
• Museum
• Times and Seasons was official paper of the Church and supervised by the Prophet.
• Nauvoo Neighbor was prior known as the Wasp - nonreligious newspaper.
• Theater, lectures, balls, or dancing schools, sang in one of three choirs, performed in one of three brass bands, bowled, played ball, pulled sticks, wrestled, and watched prairie fires. (last one... sound like fun to you? Bonfire much?) Wood cutting, quilting bees, cooperative barn and house building, fishing, picking wild berries, braiding, and weaving were practical as well as recreational pastimes that were also all popular.
• Joseph Smith enjoyed pull sticks and wrestling and was widely hailed as the best at both. 
• Death and disease were not absent however. Usually would hit a family more than once.

Church Organization Expands

• Three stakes:
• Nauvoo, Iowa (Zarahemla), and Ramus (Illinois)
• Three wards in Nauvoo became 10 with three on the outskirts by August of 1842
• The Twelve had acted like a traveling High Council but in August 1841 Joseph Smith declared that they were to remain home and the "the time had come when the Twelve should be called upon to stand in their place next to the First Presidency."
• They were to become trained and had recieved the keys of the kingdom, so that they were fully able to take over the leadership of the Church.
• The Relief Society is formed in 1842
• Read through the notes I have in journal from when Susan Easton Black came to talk to the Relief Society last year.
• Brief history of Relief Society ^
• Read 1st full paragraph on page 249, and then 1 bullet points in journal

Read last paragraph as summary for chapter. 

What happened on the 6th of April?
Org. of the church
Christs birth
most april conferences
the 12 apostles reached the shores of UK
Cornerstones laid for Nauvoo temple

In the spirit of Christmas I leave you my testimony that Christ lives. He died for our sins so that we may live with God the Father again, if we live righteously. I know that if we do we become more like Him. I know that times are tough, with finals this week.... Challenge to take extra effort to remember Christ.

On the long stretch

I am on the last two days of classes for my second fall semester at BYU and I am so happy that it is almost over! This has been a hard semester. I haven't been super happy or satisfied this semester. There probably are a lot of reasons for that too.
I broke up with Gabe because it felt right and I have never been happier. He is a very somber person, I am not. I am extremely up beat, or try to be at least. I have found out that with every guy I date a little part of me changes. My favorite part of myself was changed while dating Gabe. It wasn't that I wasn't happy, because I was very happy. I just became a little more somber. I didn't laugh as much and I kept finding myself unhappy more frequently than I have ever been. It was weird. I didn't break up with him because of something really significant or anything. I was going to wait until after tonight. I thought that maybe all we needed was a date, a real date. Just Gabe and I in a situation different than we had had in a while. Away from other friends and not alone at one of our apartments just studying or talking or watching a movie. Something very different. On Sunday however, I had this on my mind all day. If I hadn't said anything about how he had been kind of distant the past few days and asked him what he had been thinking of that was keeping him away from being totally there, we would still be dating. It was a mutual thing. We both knew that we needed to date other people. I couldn't stay in that position with him waiting for Elise. It wasn't fair to me. I didn't want to hope for anything that wasn't going to happen. I was more invested in our relationship than he was. It wasn't a bad thing and it wasn't a big difference or anything. It felt right. That is the only thing that mattered. We just were not meant to date.
In any case, school has finally ended for the semester!! YES! Two finals completed, three to go. Here I go on the long stretch to the end of the whole semester and this year. Wish me luck.

Christmas Around the World

I feel like whenever I have a performance and I only tell people about it, not posting anything on the blog or on Facebook, people get mad that I didn't publicize it enough and that is the reason they didn't come. Yet, when I do put information everywhere and talk about it all the time, no one ever comes.

So, if you are wanting to go to Christmas Around the World, please let me know so I don't miss you the night you come. I would really like to see some family there since I rarely get that. It would mean a lot to me and I know you would enjoy the show.

Please get your tickets now, and say that you are getting them from Back-up. We need all the help we can get.

Roller Coasters Anyone?

Roller coaster of my life.

I went from having a boyfriend to not dating him anymore to, a week later, dating him again. Gabe and I are dating again as of Wednesday and I am so happy. It was very sweet how things came about between the two of us.

On Wednesday, I also found out that... drum roll please..... I MADE SPAC!!!! Ah! I am so excited! It is going to be a blast!

Last night I found out that Ammon was in the hospital, thankfully he is home now. I have been worried sick about him all day.

It has been a roller coaster week, but it has been a good week. I hope you all have had a great one too!

Happy Holidays! 

6 days until Thanksgiving/My Birthday (20)!

Let the countdown BEGIN!

Or continue... It isn't like I have been counting down for the past month or anything because that would be ridiculous.

In any case, it is the best time of the year. For one reason, MY BIRTHDAY! For another, Thanksgiving! And last, Christmas music and some snow. I love November. It is the best month.

And now for some things on my mind...

Last night I had the opportunity to go to the Young Ambassador's show Harmony. I didn't know what it was going to be like, even though it is the same show they had last year. The show is all about finding harmony in the family, how music plays a part of it, and how to cherish those you love. It was very powerful. It was adorable. Gabe did such a great job! He is a fantastic dancer. I made sure to tell him that I never wanted to hear him say otherwise ever again. He was by far one of the best guy dancers, and even better than a good number of the girls. He has a natural way of moving. He is a natural dancer. The show overall was fantastic!

On Wednesday I auditioned for the Spring Performing Arts Company, or SPAC. It is the winter/spring folk team, that is almost identical to Back-Up, but they go on an in state tour to the elementary schools. I will find out if I make it in a few weeks. I am excited to know. I am thinking that I will probably audition for Young Ambassadors this year. I will also be trying out for PAC, the top performing company in the folk dance world, and if I get on PAC then I will do PAC regardless if I make Young Ambassadors. PAC is what I want so I will be working very hard to get on. I love the atmosphere that the folk dance community at BYU has to offer and I want to contribute to that.

This week I had an injury come upon me. I have a build up of scar tissue in my right foot and it has been causing some problems for me this week. Also, my tendinitis has been acting up.

I want to go to the temple this coming week. I want to go do baptisms at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

I need to sell my contract.

Countdown: 19 days.

Ballet Midterm

I just had my DANCE 291 (Ballet) midterm yesterday. I never thought that I was a ballerina or even remotely looked like one. We had our midterm this week and we filmed it. This is a clip of the center adage we did. I actually think I did quite well on it. There is a lot that I need to work on but over all, I am very pleased and think that I actually could be one and look like one. Enjoy. :)

Now if only I could look like this....

In honor of the new look

In my attempt to load more pictures onto my blog I changed the look. It looks just like pintrest! hahaha
So in honor of the new look, here is a picture of what I want to make sometime soon.

Don't they just look so good? I know they do. Now stop drooling on your computer and get back to what you were doing before you got distracted by this amazing blog of mine.

An average night

I kind of have an addiction to Facebook and Pintrest. My friend Evan made a bet with me tonight to not get on Facebook for a whole week starting on Monday. I will be doing that. It will be a mess after a whole week of not going on the Book of Face but I say bring it on. I need the $5 and if I am successful in not getting on Facebook for a whole week then I will gain that amount of money from Evan.

Tonight Kayla and I made Junior Mints. They are really good, not hard to make, and filled with so much powder sugar. I got the recipe from Pintrest.com. The recipe came from zuppas.com. They turned out good but they look super weird because we had the hardest time trying to figure out how to actually get them covered in chocolate. 

Here is a horrid picture of them. You wish you had them though. :)

Tomorrow I will be singing at a farewell for my friend Rachel Kimball. It is a beautiful arrangement of How Great Thou Art. It is actually arranged by S. Gordon Jessop... Mom's old band teacher. I will give more info about it when I get back. I hope I can sing though after being sick all week and the AMAZING football game. Cody Hoffman. Thank you for rushing all 93 yards on a kick return to make a touchdown. It was an amazing play. Way to go MVP of the whole game.

So ready for conference by the way. This will be a good week. Excited for a letter in a few days. :)

Secrets of World of Dance

While the girls of PAC were performing their part of the Slovakian number during World of
Dance, the boys thought that they could do it. Well, that they did. They did it, and pretty well I must say.

Some pictures of late

{8.6.11 Senior Project, Kira Barker and Demi Eastmon}

{8.13.11 Abby and I at her Baptism}

{8.12.11 Last day at Campus Plaza, Anna Stewart and I}

Week of greatness

The past couple of days have been surprisingly good days. Things have gone my way for the most part. The only thing that hasn't gone the way that I wanted it to would be my Anatomy lab final. That was just horrid. :( But, the good definitely outweighs the bad.

My list goes as such:

Contract: Check

Last Lab: Check

Last Lecture: Check

Pell Grant: Check

Get asked on a date: Check

Friend gets mission call: Check

Senior Project: Check

After loosing a contract for a house that was basically perfect and had really great girls in the house as well as a lot of friends in the area, I finally got a contract for Fall/Winter. I will have my own room, only two other roommates, a washer and dryer in our apartment, and so much fun! The lay out is not my favorite but the bedrooms are a really good size. I am making a list of bigger meals that I want to eat now so then I will actually get the ingredients and make them for fall. I never really eat during the summer for some reason. I never get hungry but during fall/winter I am always hungry. Why not use the kitchen that I have right? I love having a place to live, right where I want too. It is on 800 N. Just a block or two from the Richards Building.

I had my last Anatomy classes this last week. I am almost all the way done! I only have my lecture final that starts on Wednesday and closes on Thursday left. I need to do really well on it. I get kind of frustrated with this class because I can't test well. I know the material very well but I can't show it on paper that well. I know some of you probably got annoyed at my constant Anatomy talk this summer but I loved it and it helped me study. I just might take the class again for kicks and giggles. I am sad that I will probably not see some of the people I met from this class, but I loved every single person in my lab. We were like a family. My professor for Anatomy is the most amazing woman ever. She got the best applause after the class was over on Thursday that I had ever heard. She definitely got a fantastic review from me.

Not much to say about my pell grant. I got the information and I feel so much better about everything.

My friend Kayla Pickett has an older brother named Brandon. He is very attractive and he called me and asked me on a date. We will be going on a date after we move in to our apartments for fall/winter. He will actually be in my ward along with his sister. I am excited to say the least.

James Skidmore is a very great friend that I have met this summer. I will miss him so much when he goes on his mission. I was there when he got his mission call Thursday. He was so nervous and excited and wouldn't just rip it open and look at it. When he finally got it open and looked at where his call was, he was so in awe. He is going to the Independence Missouri Mission Spanish Speaking.

Now, last on the list is Senior Project.

I had the opportunity to do a piece choreographed by Sarah Brook. She is graduating on Thursday. Her piece was about trying to trust someone who is never there for you. I basically was playing myself. It was the most emotional thing I have ever done. I was pushed to my limits in a lot of ways and I am so happy that I was able to be a part of this group of girls... and my friend Thomas..... for this concert. It was magical. I got a lot of comments on how it was the best piece of the whole show. I don't deserve any credit. It all goes to Sarah. It was her choreography and she was the one who pushed us to where we ended up. She wanted us to be better than we already were.

Around the corner

Many of you probably know that I am getting to the age of 20 in a few months. That is a big deal for me for a few reasons. There is one that is weighed a lot more however and that would have to do with a mission. I was talking to a friend of mine about her mission. I asked her when someone could put their papers in. We found out that for me, it is exactly a year this month if I put my birthday as my availability. I would like to have it earlier so I could just go and not have to wait.

Mom got all excited when I told her about it. She asked me why I was wondering and asking about it.... Really? You don't know already? I have been wanting to go on a mission for years. Is it what the Lord thinks is right for me? Who knows. I guess we will have to see. I do know that if I don't go on a mission before I get married, then I will for sure go on one with my husband (if not both). I know that much. I have been told that much by the Lord. I can't wait until I can know for sure and that is just around the corner. The next step for me in my life. Exciting right?

Adrianne, would I get a different colored sticker on the boys map of the world if I did serve?

4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone has a great day and has a lot of fun celebrating our country's independence!

Crash and Burn

I got in a car crash with an electric pole on Friday.

It may seem a little funny when you just read that and if you could hear how I am saying it in my head along with looking at my face. I think it is funny to talk about with out giving all of the details. So, let's make it real and not funny anymore. It isn't a light hearted situation at all.

I am a teacher at my old dance studio as you all know and they had their show on Friday. They have two shows now, one at five and one at seven. I told Nesha, the director, that I would help backstage at the first show. Well, I was on my way there from Payson. I was going to help McKenna Meservy with her hip because she was having some pain. There is the setup of this whole situation.

I was driving east from Payson on Salem Canal Road. There was a truck in front of me that was going way below the speed limit and I was getting frustrated. Well, I decided to turn a road earlier then I usually would. I made a left turn onto 1700 West in Payson and I thought I had cleared the turn and started to accelerate up to 30 (the speed limit). Before I go on you need to know that I turn hard. I can turn with a lot of speed and this left turn did not make me stop since Salem Canal Road is the busier street. Elk Ridge Drive (the road I usually would take) does however make you stop before you turn or even go straight.

So I turned and thought, I had cleared the turn right? Something caught my eye that I looked down at the passenger seat. I looked back up not even two seconds later and there was the electric pole, just a few feet in front of me, on the drivers side. I freaked out, closed my eyes and turned the wheel to the left.

The pole crushed the entire hood of my little 1991 Nissan Sentra, which I paid for by myself thank you. The weird thing is, the air bags did not go off and the dashboard is completely untouched. I had my seat belt on because, well I am paranoid first off and then I also have automatic ones that come across my chest.

I remember opening my eyes back up and seeing the pole, wooden and obviously old, break off of the base, pop up to hit the top of my car (not making a dent somehow!) just to go over my car and land on the ground with the power cords still attached to the pole. My car kept going and I had only hit the break and not the clutch. I am happy that I didn't think about keeping the car going to put in the clutch because that would not have helped any with the pole landing on my car. It probably would have been much much worse if I had done that.

I walked out of this with a totaled car, a bruised chest and left arm, a few broken blood vessels on my right arm, bruised knees from hitting underneath the steering wheel, a broken Xiphoid Process (the tip of the sternum the the seat belt covers. It is super common in car accidents and CPR; yes I did learn that in my Medical Anatomy and Physiology class my Senior year of high school and remember that), and major whiplash in my neck and back. It is hard to hold my back straight or to hunch over and holding my head up is extremely hard at times of the day.

I am alive. That is what matters. I am still extremely shaken up and now have to walk EVERYWHERE I go. At least it now gives me an actual reason to buy a bike other than me just wanting one right? I am not expecting anything from the insurance and even if the car was repairable, I wouldn't. I can't afford to pay for that kind of work to be done. The whole thing was smashed in! Honestly, just trying to remember what I saw when I looked up as well as when I opened my eyes scares the living daylights out of me.

Being in a car doesn't scare me but I think I will be scared to drive for a very long time. I never in a million years thought that this would have happened to me.

It was not my time to leave this earth. The Lord has definitely let me know that I need to be much much more careful with my life and the things I do. This was a major wake up call for me. I don't think I could ever be thankful enough for the Lord's hand in this. I don't know who my guardian angel but I know I had someone there telling me to look up when I did. If I hadn't, I don't even want to think about that. It just freaks me out to think that I would not be able to dance anymore. It helped me make my final decision about my choice for my course of study.... I care too much about the human body and the art that a healthy body can do that I will be double majoring in Dance and Athletic Training, getting my teaching degree, and going on to Physical Therapy. It is what I need to do with my life and I now know that.

Thank you for your love and support through everything! It makes me feel so much better about the whole thing. I am just happy that I didn't leave this world because I easily should have died. If you want anymore details than those that are already posted like the fact that I did NOT get a citation from the sheriff (nicest guy ever), then just post a comment or wait for something else I guess. :) Love you all!

One year over much more to come

All the talk of people graduating has really hit me.

One year.

I graduated a year ago. A year ago I was just starting a whole new chapter of my life and was scared to death but so excited at the same time. I was trying to get a job to pay for school. I was going to major in Social Sciences Teaching. And last of all, I was moving in with people I had never met before.

A lot has changed since then.

I found a job and it is a steady one. I am not particularly fond of it but it is a job and I have the opportunity to make my schedule around my school schedule. I changed my major completely. I am now a Dance major with the hopes of double majoring in Athletic Training. With that I hope to go to Physical Therapy School. I would love that so much.

I have moved in to a second apartment and I still got to go through moving in with people I have never met before. I like it a lot but I do want to move in with people that I do know at some point. I don't want to just be a floater that never has some steady friends and roommates.

I am excited for what this new year, year 2 on my own, has to offer.

Blainifer

I was looking at the videos that I had on my laptop and came accross this blessed fella. This would be Blaine. Dancing on the counter of the laundrymat. I miss moments like this from my Freshman year. Glad this was caught on tape.

On another note, I was reading the blog 1000awesomethings.com and saw that the author was on the Today Show! I watched it and it just made me smile the whole time.

New living conditions

I don't know what it is, but I don't feel super comfortable in my apartment yet. There are three girls that already lived there from before and they haven't really said much to me. I am super shy around them right now too. I just don't feel like I belong. I just hope that the other two girls that are supposed to be living in the apartment come soon and that they are in more of a situation like me... meaning not seniors. Or that they are a little more welcoming. I just felt pretty awkward all day yesterday and for the time that I was home today. I finally had to get out. I work at three down in payson and I am trying to get a video tapped for a girl named Morgan for her Dance Company audition. I will take anytime I can to get out of the apartment at this point. :( Sad how that is turning out. I was super nervous to move in anyways and this is not helping me feel welcomed or like I belong at all. I am usually not one who will care what other people really think but for some reason, I am just getting a vibe from them like I really don't belong here. Almost like they are too good for me. Ugh. I miss these two girls. We clicked instantly. I got really lucky to have them as my roommates my very first year. What a good experience that was for me. I can only hope I have roommates like them again in the future.

This is the only picture that I have of the three of us all together. I wish we could have gotten one of us the day they moved out, but I didn't think about it.

Finals week is coming

The semester is almost over! There really is only one final that I am worried about. I have to choreograph a dance with three dancers. The dance has to be a minimum of 3 minutes. Not happy. I have only one minute set on them and tuesday is the last day for me to teach. AAAAHHHH!! Scared? YES. But whatever. I will get it done. I also have two papers due on Wednesday for one other class, a quiz and a test to take this week. But other than that, I am so excited!

The weekend was pretty boring other than yesterday. I went to a bridal shower for Celeste Lee. I met her fiancée Tyler Goodrich and he is a very nice guy. I felt really good about him. He is very sweet to her. It was bitter sweet to be there. I found out that another one of my friends is getting married as well. Well now, I am not dating anyone and I already have three engaged friends, one married and another one getting married tomorrow. Weird. They are all finding men and growing up. I am not getting there I guess. But! Celeste is going to be such a beautiful bride and I can't wait for her to start this new part of her life.

This is Celeste and her fiancée Tyler Goodrich.

Call me random

Popped out ribs hurt. They feel so much better after being popped back in though.

The End.

p.s. General Conference weekend is the bomb.com

katy out.

The Black And White

I made a new blog. It is going to be a more personal blog with deeper things being said. Yes, I can be deep. No one ever sees it however.

I am not sure if I am going to make it private or not yet but I guess I will have to wait and see how it goes and what I decide to put on there. I may just rant on some people and say their names but I don't know.... We will see I guess.

If you want, let me know what you think so far. I haven't posted really anything on there yet but that is just because it is brand new. You can check it out here.

Have a happy General Conference weekend! I already am.

Pictures of current times

Tap!! Me, Emily Kleinkopf, and Kayla Pickett. We are the three freshman on Foot Poetry this year. We choreographed a rockin' awesome trio and were able to perform it for the concert. Crazy!
Do the Uncle Sam! Long story unless you have seen the Ryan Higa video called Best Crew. haha it makes me laugh so hard! This is Tiffany wearing awesome panda hats. She should have bought it.
Stuffed at Olive Garden. Yum.
Me recently. I have been doing my hair down a lot lately. Weird.
Me and some of my favorite girls! Chiloe Alius, Kimberly Mulllen, Emily Kleinkopf, and Kayla Pickett! Foot Poetry was a blast!

No Sleeping = No Bueno

Me and a ward activity that requires me to pull an all nighter do not mix that well.

My ward had an activity this past Friday night. The activity was a Book of Mormon reading marathon. We read the second half of the Book of Mormon. Most of us are taking the second half right now because of the stupid Freshman Bundles that we have had to do this year. It was nice though to go and read the book from Helaman to the end. My group made it! We read it in less than 11 hours.

The activity ended at 6 am Saturday morning. Saturday was full of craziness for me. I am a really deep sleeper and I was afraid that if I went to sleep after the activity that I would miss my rehearsal with Brian for our Scottish piece that our Folk team is doing. So, I didn't go to sleep and just got on the computer and then jumped in the shower. That helped me stay awake a lot better. I went to the rehearsal and for the first ten to fifteen minutes that I was with Brian I was so out of it that I felt like it was not reality. I bet I was quite funny. I tend to get really weird when I am tired. I told Brian this after our rehearsal and he just laughed. He knew before hand that I was dead tired because of the activity so adding the fact that I did not believe that what was happening was real just added to the craziness.

Brian has the dance down really well. Ed (our teacher) wanted me to get with him to practice it because he said that he didn't look like he knew it. The deal is that he just needed to run it with the music a million times. I do too though. Brian was doing a better job at this than I was. I was not getting a certain part all Wednesday or Friday and was struggling with getting the steps right yesterday. It isn't hard to do but I get confused. My muscle memory is tripping me out and making me mad.

I was going to go to the Festival of Colors with Tiffany and Brian, but Tiffany and I were so tired and Brian had a Men's Choir concert at 3 so we didn't end up going. Smart choice. Tiffany and I slept but we both only got four hours of sleep. I don't know why we couldn't sleep longer than that but that is what we had to get us until about 11:30 or so and we were knocked out.

Tiffany, Deanna, Jessica (Tiffany's cousin who we hang out with all the time. Love her!), and I were all really bored come around 5:30 yesterday so we went to Hobby Lobby and got some stuff to be crafty. I got some paints and brushes along with a canvas. I haven't finished the painting but I really like what I have done so far. It is just randomness on the canvas but it's cool. Jessica got a canvas and paints as well. Deanna didn't get anything, and Tiffany.... she got cupcake liners. She ended up making spice cake cupcakes. I haven't tried one yet because they were not done before I left on a date and I didn't want one when I got back. It is fast Sunday today so I won't be having one for a little while longer, but they are just calling my name.

Now to the date. This date was with a guy on my Folk team and he is also in Men's Chorus. If you paid attention, you probably think that I went on another date with Brian, but that is not the case. His name is Jonathan Fox. We went to Trafalga and went mini golfing. I am a TERRIBLE golfer. I totally lost. But on the plus side, I am awesome at Skee Ball and at Mrs. Pac-man. I got a really good score on Mrs. Pac-man and for Skee ball.... well let's just say that I got the ball into the 10,000 point hole. Yeah, that hole right there in the corner that no one gets, I got it into that one! The sad part was that I didn't get any extra tickets to prove it. :( No matter what the score was I only got 5 tickets both times we played. I kicked Jon's but at both of these games. It was fun. I was so tired though that Jon made a comment to me.... "I don't think I have ever seen you this quiet or passive before." I felt pretty bad because I was not really saying much. My mind was thinking about someone else and about how good it would feel to sleep when I got back.

Well that was my day yesterday. It was crazy fun and really busy with little, well pretty much no, sleep at all.

I am going to add some pictures right after this of things that have been going on... I am too lazy to actually format it all after writing this long spiel of a post. So I hope you like the pictures.

Katy out

Confusing Life

I thought I had housing but I guess I don't.

This week was supposed to be good. It was headed in a the right direction until I got told by a girl named Anna that I wasn't going to be buying a contract.

Let me clarify:

On Monday I got a text from Anna asking me to room with her. The girl who was going to be her roommate is not coming back to BYU next year. I was going to buy this girls contract. It felt right to do this and I felt like it was the right thing to do. Anna wanted me to be her roommate and one of the girls who was in the household was excited for me to be in the house as well.

Anna texted me today saying that as a household they prayed about it and they didn't think that I was the right person to live with them.

What I don't get is why not think about it first and then ask so I don't get my hopes up and let me not worry about housing for a week if I don't need to? Also, why does it feel like I am supposed to be in that house when they don't feel that way.

Besides that...

I went to Persuasion with Brian, his sister, and his brother-in-law today. It was so amazing! I loved the play so much. Afterward we went to Yozone for frozen yogurt.I had a lot of fun with Brian and his sister and her husband. This was a good afternoon, the night just wasn't good. BYU also won so that was nice. After the game I got ready for the Wyview Park and Heritage Halls invitational. It was okay. I know other people who had a lot more fun than I did. I wasn't a fan though. It made me feel uncomfortable and it put me through distress.

Church at 2?

Have I mentioned how much I dislike having church at 2? Well, I do. It isn't fun because I get tempted to sleep in extremely late and then I feel like my whole day is wasted. When I get back from church it is 5 in the evening. I have three hours to cook eat wash dishes and chill before ward prayer/stare at 8. I feel like the whole day is just church (not that thats a bad thing at all) and I don't feel productive. I don't like having time after church. Having time before church is just torture when it is fast sunday, like today. GR!

Wonder How To Date.

I love life right now.

Things are going really well right now for me. I am loving school, I am not worrying about changing my major at the moment (even though I am still super confused), and I am so very twitterpated (however that is spelled). :D aaahh! I love this! I haven't felt this way for months! I can't remember feeling this crazy about Spencer. Now don't worry, I am not going to fall for him to fast.

Anyways let me tell you of the second date we went on. Well, first off I went to the Fireside that my old dance studio puts on every year with him. He really liked it. I wanted to bring someone who would appreciate it. Well he did. :)

On Monday I was with Blaine Jensen and we were doing a skype conversation with Trace Marriott. Trace left on his mission on Wednesday. Well, in our conversation I got a phone call from Brian... the kid I took to the Fireside. He asked me to go to Chanticleer and I accepted. I loved it so much! During the date we talked about our families and about what other stuff we liked to do other than dancing and singing and what not (he is a second tenor in Men's Choir). Books came up and I told him that I loved the book The Scarlet Pimpernel. He goes on to tell me that he loves that movie. It came time to admit that I had never seen it. Brian was taken back at that. He replied with, "You have never seen the movie?! My sister has it and I guess we will just have to borrow it so you can see how amazing it is!"

Prospective third date? I hope so. haha

Pictures for your wondering eye

These are some of the pictures that I am planning on sending to Joseph. He loves Cafe Rio so much so I thought I should include a picture of it. He wanted to have some pictures of home so I am doing this. I am going to get a few more pictures for him. I need to get them done asap so I can get his letter sent.

Wonderful updates

First things first!

I am so excited for this girl! Her name is Celeste Lee. She has been my best friend for 15 years. I love her to death and I am so incandescently happy right now because of some information that I received from her about two hours ago. She is only going to be Celeste Lee for two more moths. On April 12, 2011 in the Draper, UT temple she will become married for all time and eternity to this man.......

Tyler Goodrich

I about screamed my head off when I got her text! aaaahhhhh!!! I am still so excited! I wish I was with her right now so I could jump up and down in excitement.

Now on to the rest of the post.

Well I don't know about you but I sure have had some awesome weekends!

I went to Dance in Concert. This was the show that Contemporary Dance Theater (CDT formally known as Dancer's Company) put on. I had a couple numbers that I wanted to mention.

Barefootin'. Just a fun dance that celebrated dance as dance and the fun that comes with moving your body.

Prey. This piece was restaged by Kate Monson. She is a good friend of Nesha Woodhouse who is the Artistic Director at Lifehouse Performing Arts Academy. Kate is the co-director for CDT. She has done Prey before. Prey was choreographed by 4 time Bessie Award winner (kind of a big deal if you didn't know that) Bebe Miller. She came to BYU and cleaned it and told them what it was about. The dance started out with my friend Evan making a cawing noise. Then everyone else joined in. Finally it stopped and the piece kept going. It sounds kind of crazy but it was the most life changing and stunning piece I have seen in a while. The piece was about how people are just like animals. Through the eyes of some the business world is very animal like. Sometimes we are the ones being hunted and closed down and other times we are the ones doing the hunting and pushing others down. People just sit and watch and don't do anything about these things in our world going on. The most powerful part in the piece for me was when a girl named Courtney climbed on top of Brandon Roach. She started just slowly pushing him down and after a time she had pushed him down totally to the ground. He had a look on his face during that time that just read help me but those that were on the stage were just sitting or standing around looking right at what was going on. This piece was stunning.

Empty Chairs. The number was about a family that had a child go in the different direction then they had raised her to be. The dance had chairs being used during the whole dance and it represented something different each time someone would touch it, sit on it, stand on it or anything like that. There is a trio part in the dance where three girls dressed all in white are going around and two of them are trying to get the third one to cooperate. You could feel the frustration of one of the girls (mother figure) and the comfort from another as she was helping the frustrated dancer (mother figure) cope. You could feel the hope at the end when they all came together. It was beautiful and powerful.

On Saturday I went to rehearsal at 10:00 for my percussive footwork concert coming up. After rehearsal I went home and got ready for a photo shoot I was helping with. I was a model with my friends Anna Finneran and Kendra Smith for Nichole Van (she was my young womens advisor once upon a time). We had a blast so much! Here is a picture of me.... it was so freaking cold and crazy enough this was a test shot.

This last week I got a letter from Joseph Mohrman. I think I have read it at least a dozen or two times already. I miss him so much! Anyways -When I opened up the envelope I pulled out this.....

What a fun card right? haha I like it. When I opened up the card there was nothing written in it. But that is okay because I got a letter instead so I was happy. I very much intend to keep this card.

For Christmas I got this book from a good friend of mine. It is so.... well.... awesome. It is a book that has all of the little things in life that make living so great! I needed this book. It has brought back my happiness that I had lost for a time. I recommend looking at the site... www.1000awesomethings.com it will make your day so much better.

This is my food cupboard. Deanna made the pictures. Our kitchen is decked out in these. I love it so much! I am Clarkceratops in the apartment. Don't ask. It is a very long story. We love dinosaurs in our apartment because of a skit that Divine Comedy did back in September. It was about random callings that people would get. Dinosaur and Dinosaur Hunter were two of them. That should explain some of it.

For Tiffany's (my roommate) birthday we made her a cake! Because of the whole dinosaur thing we made her the dinosaur and Deanna and I (her roommates) along with two of our friends are the stick figures. I know how to make fondant now. I think it tastes good but no one else really does.

This is a picture of the HBLL. I probably should spend a lot more time in that building than I do. But nonetheless -great building.

It has been so cold lately! Oh my goodness! This is a picture of Tiffany and I coming out of our PS 100 lab (Physical Science). We were freezing.

BYU Men's Volleyball

Mr. Hottie is number 13... Robbie Stowell

We played UCLA last night and tonight and we won both nights!! BAM BABY!!! I love Volleyball oh so much. It was so hot to watch.

Well, that's my post. I am so excited about life! It is... AWESOME!

Wondering the nights events

A good thing is happening tonight.

Dance In Concert is tonight. You are probably wondering what that is right? Well. It is the concert that Contemporary Dance Theater does every year. Why is this a good thing?

Because dancing rocks. I will give a review when I come back from it. YAYAYAYAYAY!

Yeah. I am just a little excited.

Wondered why people are themselves? Yeah. Me too.

I am sitting in my apartment alone right now. I was going to go apartment shopping with my friend Anna who I am going to room with for the spring/summer term but she ended up not able to do that today. I also need to practice for tomorrow. I am singing a duet with Nick Sales in Sacrament tomorrow.

Because I was going to go with Anna today and then practice the song tonight I turned down a date. I feel kind of bad because this kid is a very nice guy. He wanted to go to the Irish Dancing concert with me. I would have loved to go..... I kind of didn't want to at the same time though. He is the type of person that is very talented, super smart, a little prideful, but extremely nice. He sings everywhere he goes.... constantly. I know he loves it and he has a great voice and all but it gets a little annoying after awhile. I can only be around him for so long with out being annoyed.

Do you have any advice for me? I don't know how to handle these situations very well.

The Wonders of Teeth and a Dentist

I love the dentist... on most occasions.

I have an appointment today... well in like 45 minutes. I usually don't get nervous about going to the dentist but I am talking to him about my wisdom teeth today. Wisdom teeth business just freaks me out. I kind of don't want to get them out. Actually let me rephrase that. I DO NOT IN NO WAY WANT TO GET THEM OUT! I really don't want to deal with it.

There is one problem however by not getting them taken out. My mouth is actually quite small. You wouldn't be able to tell by what noise level usually comes out of it but it is true. My molars are progressively getting more and more hard to floss. I rarely do because I can never get the floss in between my molars. They are so close and jammed together that even if I do get the floss in it when I try and take it back out it will usually break. I hate this. Because I can't floss I always get cavities. I only get them in between my teeth and it is rare if they are anywhere other than in my molars.

If it weren't for the money it costs to get them taken care of each time that I have a cavity I wouldn't be as disconcerting with this issue. I am going to see what would happen if we let my wisdom teeth just grow in. I think they are going in pretty well because I have only had two days where I have had toothaches because of (what I believe would be) my wisdom teeth. I just hope everything goes well.

Hopefully I won't need to get them taken out and I will only need spacers and/or braces. I could live with that. I wouldn't need to have them on that long because my teeth are relatively straight. An uncommon thing it seems for the Clark family. I am the only girl that hasn't had braces and I actually would be quite surprised if it actually came down to that.

It is found!

I found my phone!! Hurray! There isn't a battery or a back on it but that's okay. I have the phone. I will be going to T-Mobile later today to get a new battery and back for my phone. I am very happy I have insurance on it.

Frustrated to the max

I want my phone!!! I am getting so frustrated!

I lost my phone on Friday at the Richards Building... outside mind you. Well, I figured out like two minutes later that I had left it and went back to get it... making me late to work by like a half hour. Despite me going back asap and looking everywhere for it, it was no where to be found. I cleaned out my car and all of my bags to see if I had maybe put it in there some how and didn't see it or remember that I had done so. no luck. I went into the building twice that day and checked with them but nothing was there. I had to wait all stinking weekend to go to the University lost and found to see if it was there. I went there today to see if it was there but no luck there either! I am going to go in a minute to see if it showed up at the Richards Building over the weekend or something. If it isn't there I will go to the T-mobile store and talk to them tomorrow. I just want my phone back. I don't want to loose it totally and indefinitely. That would not be fun.

I am very frustrated with this situation. the. end.

Explain what?

My Mom put something on my family blog (you can look at it here) and so I have to explain.

At BYU there is a club called the International Folk Dance Club. It is the longest standing and working club at BYU. It has been there for 50 years now. The cool thing about this though, is there are teams to try out for and you will perform at the end of the semester. The touring teams PAC (Performing Arts Company- now World Dance Company) and Back-up are the main teams during the Fall Semester. SPAC (Spring version of PAC) is the main company during Winter semester while PAC is touring. This tends to be a lot of the members of the back-up team and then some.

The next team under these teams is called 2RB. 2 for the time slot and RB for what building. 9 and 10 Wisk are in the Wilkinson Center and are about the same level of difficulty. 8 Wisk and 1 Wisk are the same as well. Only 8 Wisk is offered during the Winter semester and 1 Wisk is offered in the Fall.

At the end of the Fall semester they had the auditions for those that were already on a team to go higher or on to one that would work better with their schedule (sometimes the case). 2RB was almost filled up at the end of these auditions. They had one spot for a guy and three spots for girls.

Well, last night I auditioned for a team on kind of a whim. I wanted to at least let them see my face and know who I was even if I couldn't get on a team. I was confident that I would get on a team of some sort but the only one that I could get on that worked with my schedule was 2RB. Yeah.... like I was really going to get on it right?

I went and had fun last night. We learned a part of the Ukraine National Dance the Hopak and that was super fun. We also learned a dance that they performed in World of Dance/Christmas Around the world that was only the girls doing it. It is full of foot work. I love this dance and I caught on pretty dang well. Well we started learning an Israeli combination when Greg (one of the teachers) pulled me aside and wanted to talk to me. I didn't really think much of it but I went off to the side with him and I saw in his hand a card that said 2RB!!!! He said to me, "Congratulations! We would love to have you on our 2RB team this semester!" I just said thank you and that I was excited to be apart of this, but inside.... AAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I was one of THREE girls that made it that night! I am am so excited! I start my first tomorrow. As of right now, I am on the second highest ranking Folk Team at BYU for the semester while PAC is on tour and SPAC (basically the back-up team) is the top company!

Well, that is the cool thing I had to explain. :)

Random Posting

Things around work are pretty boring right now. We haven't been doing anything really because the corrections (which I do) were on hold. Now they can't be done because Sarah Franz (my boss) just had a baby and doesn't work here any more. I am getting really annoyed. I just want to do something at work that is productive. I don't have anything to do today because no one is here either. What to do what to do what to do.... blog right?

Well I got a calling yesterday. Yes, I was a Relief Society Instructor but I was released yesterday. Our Home Evening Groups were switched up and I ended up being called as the Group Leader to group 5. The weird thing about this calling is that I was talking with my friend Patty about being able to get to home evening. I work until 7 every night and I didn't know what was going to happen with every one else. I didn't want to not go because it is something that has helped me get as far as I have. Then five minutes later I was called to this position. Wow. It all works out. Now I just have to come up with some things to do for it.

Well, Christmas was great! It was fun to be with Dave and Tana with there little babes Ansleigh. Loved seeing them again. I got a lot of things and I appreciated everything! The ipod from Lindsey and Hans has already helped me with choreography. I got a $25 itunes card and got some great music already. I got a new Bible (which I needed very much), books, clothes, car things from Jess and Jen (which was what I also needed), and much more. I missed my roommates a lot all through the break. Even though I loved being able to relax and hang with some old friends, I am ready for school to start back up tomorrow.

It was nice to come back to my apartment. I was happy to sleep in a bed again. haha :)