2 More Days Until I'm Free!

I love Rexburg. Don't get me wrong. It's one of my favorite places. And having a car this semester has helped tremendously with the feeling of not wanting to be here, but...yes there is a but. I have been going crazy. Why is it that I have more drama here at college than I did in high school? Is that really how it is supposed to be? I was always under the impression that high school was the drama infested stage of life. Apparently not. I'm excited to leave and get out.

As for what I'm doing. Hmm. It's new and exciting! I'm not going to Utah for Thanksgiving like I did last year. I'm going to Washington! In Tacoma to be exact. It's right outside Seattle apparently. I don't know. I've never been there.


Two of my roommates are from there and my twin, Katie (below), invited me to go home with her for Thanksgiving. I'm way excited! I've never been farther west than Rexburg, so it will be fun. We'll be leaving on Friday at 1 after our classes. We're planning on driving straight through which would land us there at about 1am. This is only if the passes are clear and safe enough to drive through at night. It could get kind of dangerous because no one else will be up there at that time of night. Hopefully cellphones will work up there. We are bringing lots of blankets just in case something does happen and we end up breaking down or something.



So now in case you're wondering why I called Katie my twin. There are a few different reasons.
1. We have the same name. We both go by "Kate" and "Katie".
2. On top of that, we have the exact same initials. KEW.
3. We, obviously by the picture, have the same sort of personality.
4. We both say a lot of the same things...and if we didn't, we have picked up on sayings that each other say.
5. We have the same temperment. Kind of amusing actually.
and...
6. We both say really stupid things quite often. We're both on the quote wall for many of these occurances.

While we're at her house, things will get kind of confusing. Here at school she goes by Katie while I go by Kate. At home, however, she goes by Kate. So there will be Kate and Kate. ha. I'm excited. It will be fun.

We will document the road trip, hopefully I'll put pictures up. If not, check my facebook. They will get there sooner than on here.

Have a good Turkey Day! Gobble Gobble!

Halloween!

Halloween...oh what a fun day! Friday night we carved pumpkins. Ours was the best. I don't have a picture of Amanda and Brent's pumpkin, but just know ours was amazing. It was supposed to be Pumpkin Frankinstein. It didn't turn out like that, but it still looked pretty cool.

Katie with our pumpkin

Rolando w/ our pumpkin

A normal picture

Katie and I with our pumpkin representing the fish ladies (We decided not to be cat ladies. Too much fur to clean up, haha.)

On Halloween, I spent part of it at my apartment watching NCIS and then I finally got up the energy to go to the library to do my homework. You all would be proud. I've been working really hard at not doing homework on Sunday's (my Religion class doesn't count...it's religion on Sunday...that's how it should be) so I've been going to the library so my amazingly fun, yet distracting roommates won't be able to distract me. After that, we went to dinner, kinda in a triple date, and then went to a Haunted House. It was fun. I got scared, screamed often, and had a blast. When we got home, we played games. It was fun.

I am no longer a Teen!

I'm offically 20! No longer a teenager. Yes...I'm out of the teens. I just love saying that. It's a good feeling. Anyway. For my birthday we went and had a lot of fun! It started with 2 cars, 10 people, 5 in each car. When we got to the place where we needed 4 wheel drive, we all piled into the Explorer. 3 people in the front, 4 in the back (one sitting on a lap) and then 3 shoved in the trunk with the back open. The dust went everywhere, but they were good sports about it.

Jennifer, with Tory and I in the background.

Tory and I.

Chelsey and I.
What happens when you're about to take a picture and you go over a bump.

Matt. He was such a good sport about riding in the trunk and getting dirt all over him.

Ice Caves!!! This was the hardest/scariest part. I'm already down there if you can see me.

Finally Made it! Well...Almost.

We are finally in Utah! We got here at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. We made it with no accidents, breakdowns, injuries of any kind, and we didn't even get stuck in traffic. I think that would probably be because we were driving in the middle of no where most of the time, but that's a different story. I absolutely love it out west. (Not so much the midwest.) Although, I am already feeling the dryness getting to me. About halfway through Wyoming, Laura had to ask for the lotion out of my trunk. We were both in need of it. And I luckily put my chapstick in my bag in the backseat that we both needed.

The best part about this trip has probably been spending so much time with my sister. We're 18 years apart and never really had a chance to form that sisterly bond (Sounds corny I know, but it is very true.) This summer was great for that, and then the road trip with her was a lot of fun. I'll be sad to see her fly home tomorrow!

There will be pictures coming soon of some highlights from our trip here. My camera is in the car at the moment, and Laura is out with it visiting a friend. So you all (haha, the maybe 5 people that read this) will just have to wait!

ONE WEEK!!!!

That's all I have left until I leave for Rexburg! I'm super excited!

I've already started packing things up. Crazy, I know. I am having some mixed feelings however. As boring as this summer has been seeing as I have no friends here in good ole Charlotte, I do love being just 10 minutes away from my family. It's been nice to be able to run over and see my nephews and niece when I'm needed or just to visit.

I am rather excited to get out to school though. I can't wait to start my new major of Elementary Ed! (For those of you that didn't know, I did officially change it.) It's exciting to work towards my goal as a teacher and some day be able to teach and change kids lives. I look forward to that day. And, I'll be able to teach my own kids even better and they will all turn out to be geniuses! (I can hope can't I?) I'm also looking forward to the social aspect. As my father loves to remind me, "You're there to get an education. Not to socialize." However, I'm me and I love to have fun when I can. And seeing as my summer was rather dull, I look forward to seeing my AMAZING friends that I have missed oh so much! Especially my roommates and certain guy that I've been counting the days down to seeing :) Oh goodness! I just can't wait!

Now for how I'm getting there! This is an exciting part as well. My Mom and Dad are simply amazing, wonderful, kind, and generous parents and are graciously letting me take the little '98 Honda Civic out to school. Yes, I'll have a car, and yes, I'm driving it all the way out there. The fun part however is that I'll be going with my sister Laura! I'm way excited to take a road trip with her. It should be super fun! Even if the car has no A/C. It's not that big of a deal though. It'll be up in Idaho. How often will I need A/C there? Right? But yes, we'll be driving up to St. Louis the first night and staying at my roommates house. So I get to see her! FINALLY! I've missed her oh so much!!! Anyway, after that, we'll be driving up to Nauvoo and sight seeing a little bit. Seeing some Church history and walking on Temple grounds. So exciting! Then we'll take 2 days to travel to Utah, spend the night at our cousins 2 nights and then I'll drop her off at the airport :( and drive up to school myself. It's sad she can't come up with me, but her children and husband need her.

So that's the plan. I'm excited. And praying all my stuff and her's will fit in my little car.

For those that say I don't smile...

For those of you that say I don't smile. I have proof! I went to my brothers CD Release show last weekend (which was awesome btw) and my other brother took pictures of me and my bestie.

See, smiles!

Candid smile.

This is my favorite I think.

I Have A Job!!!...ish

Good news...I have a job. Bad news...It's incredibly part time. I now nanny for a family. (It was two families, but apparently they thought that I was going to work for them and only them when they only needed me like 2 days a week. What am I supposed to do with the rest of my time?!) Two incredibly cute boys. Chris, age 3 and then Josh, age 5. I pick up Chris from day camp, sometimes Josh, and then take them home and play till usually around 5 or 6. They are very good kids and incredibly sweet. Chris has already come in from playing to bring me a "flower." It was really just a dandelion, but how sweet is that!? It made my day!

I've really only had one problem the few days that I have watched them so far. I think Chris was really just testing his boundaries with me, seeing as it was my first day as the new nanny/babysitter. He didn't quite understand the concept of "Time Out," but no worries...I showed him. And he learned that you do as Miss Kate says or that's where you end up. (They don't call me Kate. It's Miss Kate. I love it. It's adorable.)

But other than that life is pretty much the same. Boring as ever with a few fun things tossed in every once in a while. Like watching the boys!

Registration is the Devil!

You may think I'm being over dramatic (Okay...I definitely am), but this is serious business that schools make 10 times more difficult than it really needs to be. I can (and am going to) list the top 3 ways that colleges make this worse than it already is!

1. Registration opens at midnight. Just hearing it sounds okay, right? Most college students stay up late anyways. BUT when you think about it, not ALL the students that go to the school are from that time zone! Right? Which means...midnight for the school could be 2 in the morning for the student back at home for the summer waiting to register for her classes who had been watching her wonderful nieces and nephew all week and was really tired and had fallen asleep 10 minutes before registration opened!!! Just saying...it could happen...
2. There are never enough classes for the students. We are told to take certain classes, but when we go to register for the class...they are all taken! How do you expect a school of 13,000 to fit in 5 classes? None of which are in the early morning, might I add, which is when SOME of US would like to take our classes so we have the rest of the day to work, do homework, see friends, have a life...but NO!!!! They are all set for ridiculous times such as 3-5 or worse! 7-10 (Okay...this is really a night class for those that are off track at BYU-Idaho...but I thought I'd add it in for dramatic purposes.)
3. There are 2 kinds of students in the world of registering. There are those that plan ahead. (aka ME!) We figure out which professors we want. Research them to make sure they teach in our learning styles. Look for specific professors that we've already had that we loved and know they will teach us what we need to know and will help us grow in that class. We find these teachers and pretty much...in essence, plan our ENTIRE schedules around them, so that we may benefit from them. Then there are the students that just click on random professors. They don't KNOW anything about them. Why would they? They just want to get it over with without having to use their brain for the whole process that some of us (again...aka ME!) stress over and worry about. They take up the classes that those of us have thought about for hours on end, debating if that's what we want to take and when we (me again) go to add that class, we can't...because it's full...of students who don't care!

I can say one good thing about the whole registration process...it does have the 'Drop Class' button. That does come in handy.

On a happy note, I was able to get into one of the classes that I wanted after someone used that wonderful 'Drop Class' button. Thank you whoever you may be. I am currently waiting on one teachers class to open up, so I can take math with my roommate. That would be sweet! Other than that, I'm registered for 16 Credits for the Fall '09 semester. All between the times of 9-1:45, Monday through Friday. I'm good...and yet, so dead this semester. There's no way I'll be able to balance all this. I don't have that time management thing down quite yet. But hey...if you ever need a professional on procrastination...Look no further!

If you have any complaints on the registration process...feel free to leave me a comment about them!

Close, but no Cigar...

First off, I'd like to know if anyone knows where that saying came from and what it is really referring to. I know what it means...but not where it originated.

Anyways. Onto the actual subject of this blog.

I had a job as of this morning. It was decided that I had a job at IHOP, but not exactly what I was going to do. I had a meeting at 1 and that's when we decided what position I was going to get. I got a server. Big money can be made there apparently. So, I spent the next 4 1/2 hours filling out paper work and learning all the only slightly helpful information that I was having to cram into my head. Sitting in a rather uncomfortable booth that made my back hurt and listening to the general manager go on and on about things that didn't even apply to me.

While going through all the different protocols for the job, we got to scheduling. This is when she decided to tell me that everyone HAS to work Sundays. I figured I could get around this by just being one of the waitresses that came in later. When I asked what the latest I could come in was, she replied with 9...AM. She asked if that would be a problem and I said "No" after contemplating over the fact that no other places were hiring. She said good and we continued. After about a half an hour of feeling terrible and not being able to get it out of my mind, I decided that I couldn't do it. There was no way I could miss church for 3 1/2 months. I just felt sick thinking about it. I went to the bathroom and upon returning I decided to tell the manager that I couldn't do it. I wish I could say that she changed her mind and said I could have Sunday's off, but that didn't happen. I walked out about to cry because I was frustrated with my job hunt now. If only I could find someplace that was hiring.

Changing My Major

Decisions, decisions...

Option #1.
Stay with my major. Continue studying Interior Design and then either go into it, or Event Planning. Not that keen on this option unless I transfer to LDSBC and continue it, which is not all that appealing because I LOVE BYUI and all of my friends there.

Option #2
Change my major to something else. Not sure what, but continue to go forward in trying to be an Event Planner. This would be fun, but I'm not sure how much money I could make doing this or if it will even be needed with how the economy is going.

Option #3
Now, this one is kind of coming out of left field. So, before I announce it, I want to explain how I came to this decision.

As I've been looking for a job, the only job I've really wanted was a nannying job. I love little kids and I've always loved babysitting, so I figured nannying would be the perfect job for me! I've tried to find one, but haven't been able to find one...sadly. Anyways...As I was thinking and pondering this, one career that I've always considered, but never spoken of, has been teaching. I've always loved math and would love to be an Algebra teacher. I've always had the ablity to help friends with it, and I think that I would be a good teacher.

I could also go into Elementary Ed and either run a Day Care or Preschool or just be a normal teacher.

So Option #3 would be a teacher.

Okay...now that you know the options. What do you think?

April Fools!!!

April Fools for me has always been a small "Holiday" (if you can call it that) for me. Nothing big. This year however was a little different.

My FHE brothers, who practically live at my apartment, had left one night for curfew, or so we had thought. They closed the door and my roommate and I went in the back of the apartment and then came back out to the living room a few minutes later. Just as we were relaxing on the couch, Chris and Lance burst through the door with snow in their hands. Chris gets me, putting snow all over me. Lance got Camille and the couch as well. We both started to get them back. After we chased them out, we texted them telling them we were going to get them back "ten times over" for the snow attack. They didn't believe us...bad move.

I had the brilliant plan of "Popcorning" them. For those of you who don't know what this is...let me explain. What you do is pop a lot of popcorn then when everyone is in the house or apartment you tape up the door with a garbage bag leaving a space of about 5-6 inches between the door and the bag. You fill this with popcorn so in the morning they open the door and ALL the popcorn falls into their apartment. Yes, it takes forever to pop it all. And Yes, It makes a HUGE!!! mess. But it was super funny!!!

The night of April Fools we popped it all. It took us a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours to get it done and then went to see the guys. As we walked in, we noticed that Chris had just cleaned their ENTIRE living room. I started to feel really bad...I learned I'm not good at pranking. That night, well morning rather, at about 4:30 we went up to the guys apartment only to find one of them awake. Our plan had backfired, so we decided we'd do it the next night.

The next night we showed up at the same time only to find Brian awake playing video games. He hadn't heard us yet, so we decided to keep going. We taped up the bottom half of the door with masking tape. As we were about to start filling the door, it occured to me that there was a metal threshold. I told my roommates that he was going to hear it, but they said just keep going, so I did. Camille was the look out and as I started to dump the popcorn in slowly, all you could hear was "Ping, ping-ping-ping, ping" as the popcorn hit the metal. I was right...he heard. Camille takes off down the stairs, Erin ran down the hallway, and I was stuck there. He saw me and we asked him to let us keep doing it. He's a good sport so he let us. As we filled the door we realized the masking tape wasn't strong enough...we needed duct tape. I went to the window and said, "Brian? Do you have any duct tape...the masking tape isn't working." He said yes, and gave us it. Funny huh? We used their own stuff against them. What a good sport. That morning they woke up to popcorn and a sign that said, "GOOD MORNING GUYS!!!" It was funny, but I still felt bad that I had put them through that. I'm not a good pranker. As my roommate said, "You can't feel bad when you prank them! Nor are you supposed to help them clean up and make them brownies." (I offered to help clean, but never actually did. The brownies I really did make....sad huh?) But yes...that was my April Fools prank...fun stuff eh?

The Lake

Living on the bottom floor of an apartment complex can have it's downsides. Such as the loud noises coming from the apartment above us when they walk, move chairs, and other activities as such. The fact that people stomp the snow off their shoes right outside your window when napping. And then...best of all. When there are water heater problems...your apartment floods and creates lakes in places there shouldn't be lakes...such as your hallway!

I was napping Sunday afternoon, when my roommate came in and said "Uh, Kate...the hallways flooded. What should I do?" Now...I was half asleep and didn't really understand what was happening quite yet, so I rolled over and said, "Get the managers." She ran out and when it occurred to me what she had really said, I got up to assess the damage done and evaluate if it was worth me missing the rest of my nap. Well, it turned out to be worse than I thought. I quickly went out to see what she was doing and she was talking to the RA. Now, I have come to realize something. RA's ARE COMPLETELY WORTHLESS!!! All she did was come down say, "Oh, that sucks." And leave again. Uh...HELLO!?!?! It's your job to help!!! Do you not understand this concept?! Anyways...turns out our managers were at church! Surprise! That's what we get for going to a Church School. So as I was writing a not to leave on our managers door so they would come over ASAP, the compassionate service leaders of our ward happened to knock on our door! Great timing. I have to give them props for that. They come in and see what is happening and immediately jump into action! They got fans, towels, and got right to work soaking the water up! During this time, we also had 2 or 3 sets of Home Teachers come by (none of which were ours) and help. Well...try. None of them really knew how to fix a water heater, and also our FHE Brother who actually knew what he was doing! but had no tools. Meanwhile, I ran to the next apartment complex who has helped us out in the past and asked them what we should. Their apartment manager came over and shut the water off so that it wouldn't flood anymore than it had.

Later that day, the maintenance guy and our manager came by and put in a new water heater...

Yes...This is it. Later than night we were sitting around doing homework and then my roommate screams, "Guys it's flooding again!!!" We all get up really fast and I told one to run and get our manager again....even though it was midnight. I didn't care! It was flooding our apartment! He came and "shut it off." Too bad when 1:30 rolled around it started leaking again! 3 times in one day!!! Even after we got a whole new one!

This is the entrance to my roommates room where the water heater is located. Luckily none of her stuff was damaged. That would've SUCKED! We had that big fan blowing under her rug for a good 3-4 days trying to dry everything out.

The view from the front of the hallway after they'd tore up our carpet and put an extra piece down. Stylish isn't it?
And finally the entrance to the hallway. I didn't get a picture of the kitchen, but that flooded too and made a nice little lake in there as well.

We managed to come out of the situation with minimal damages. My mat board and giant pad of paper got damaged from the water cause it was in the back of my closet which is connected to the hallway interior wall. No one else had anything get messed up. Lucky them...now I just have to figure out what to do without my paper...hmm.....

Walking to Class

Now, I'm usually not one to complain about how much I have to carry. I love what I'm studying and so I feel it's worth it. On days like today however, it gets to be a little annoying. Trying not to slip on ice and/or slush while walking and trying to open doors against the wind. Yeah...lame!!! Here's what I looked like when I got home from classes today. Yes...that is snow in my hair...and yes, my face is all red from the cold.

My drafting case. One of the 3 things I had to carry today.

My drafting bag. It has all my tools and stuff I need when I work. The strap is broken however, so I have to carry it by hand. Probly weighs about 25-30 lbs.

And last, but certainly not least....my portfolio bag. It has a big pad of paper, a GINORMOUS clip board, and then all my tools in the front pouch.

Pond Skimming

As many of you know, there isn't much here in The Burg. Because of this fact, the need to create things to do is in great need. Therefore, they do things such as pond skimming. Pond skimming, for those of you who don't know, is where you ski, snowboard, sled, or pretty much anything you want down a big hill and try to "skim" across the water. I feel terrible that I forgot my camera and couldn't take pictures, but here is a video from Youtube that someone else took.

Something I learned about Pond Skimming...don't stand too close to the pond! Common sense...I know. But apparently I was lacking a little bit in that department and therefore this happened...

The sweatshirt isn't wet...but that's cause I had my jacket on over it. Luckily it's water proof.

And these are my jeans...see...I was SOAKED. Well...on one side of my body. HA!

Spaghetti, Meatballs, and a Birthday!

I made Spaghetti and Meatballs for the first time tonight! I was very proud of myself. They turned out amazing! Just like my Mom's (Thanks for the recipe!).

The stove as I was cooking. Yes there are 2 pots of noodles. My roommate can't eat flour (sad huh?) so I was cooking her special noodles.

The first batch of Meatballs! YUM!

All them! They turned out amazing! MMMM

It's also my roommate Rachel's birthday today! So I made a Chocolate Eggless Cake. It was good, but not as yummy as my Mom's. I need to keep working on it!

Rachel blowing out her candles.

My Life...

...is flippin' amazing right now. I can't stop smiling...and I am INCREDIBLY happy! Life is good.

Back at College!

I'm back in the swing of things! Life if good. I am only taking 12 credits this semester due to the fact that I don't know if I'm going to stick with my major. Yes...I'm considering changing. I'm not sure to what yet, but I'm still thinking about it. I may not change at all...so no one panic! It will hopefully be an easy semester and I won't have to get stressed out. It's nice...although I have to carry TONS of stuff around campus. I think it's 3 bags and a drafting box (a big square box that holds my drafting board). It's not that bad unless it's really cold and I forget my gloves. Then my hands go numb. lol. It was surprisingly warm today. 24 degrees. I only had to wear the outter liner of my coat! It was nice.

I have 3 new roommates this semester. I don't have pictures of them yet, but I'll post them ASAP! I have been hanging out a lot with friends from last semester though and have been having a blast. My best friends from last semester aren't here though. :( That makes me VERY sad, but we're planning on rooming together next fall.

As I already said, my friends and I have been hanging out a lot. We have had a Game Night both weekends since I've been back and we've gone down to IF (Idaho Falls) a few times. It's been great fun! I love having friends with cars! Ha. Now I just need to convince Mom and Dad to help me get one for next semester! Ha. Like that's going to happen!

Here are a few pictures that I hope you like!

We were playing a game called Scum...Carrie and I were the Scum of the group.

Then we switched spots...but neither of us moved from them the entire game.

Alex and Terrance were winning for the LONGEST TIME!

Then Stephanie got up there to represent the girls!

Erin and Terrance (before he started winning).

We were also throwing a Surprise Party for one of Stephanie's roommates...I made the cake on the Right...it was a hit! There wasn't any left.

We made homemade Pizzas! They were yummy...but we ran out of dough. haha.

After setting up for the party and waiting for everyone to get there.

Trip to IF! It was fun. Andrew was pushing us around. haha!

Stephanie and I on the way home.

Andrew pushing me to the car...he kept scaring me and tipping the cart. grr. But it was fun nonetheless.

We are so gangster! haha.

After the Welcome Back Dance. I don't know why we took the pictures AFTER dancing all night. Not the brightest thing. hehe.