Not So Spring Springtime

It has been freezing lately.  But now, it is starting to warm up! Spring is finally here.

In the time that I have last blogged I have finished Winter semester, signed up for a training to be a domestic violence volunteer, started Spring term, already taken two anatomy lab quizzes, started training to be a volunteer, signed up for a CNA program, had dad visit :), picked up Shannon Toolson from the airport and had a great conversation with her, made Easter baskets for Javier, Pepe, Junior, Zach and Brock, said goodbye to Kyle Richardson for two years and all my other friends who went home for the summer.

Check out Marissa's blog and Nick's blog to read more about some of that.  Their pictures: courtesy of me.

It has been super busy.  Busier than I expected.  Monday through Thursday I have at least four hours (two of lecture and two of lab) about the human body.  Thankfully I love my anatomy lab TA's (my lecture TA is Jessica Coleman, love her too!) and my physiology lab group and graders (suuuper relaxed).

We are on a kickball team that should be pretty fun.  Marissa and I missed the first game for training to be volunteers.  Tomorrow night we have a Cinco de Mayo party!!! Super pumped for that.  Saturday we are going hiking and have our second kickball game.  I'll let ya know how all that goes and post real pictures of how things are going down here in Provo (our internet doesn't work and I always forget when I have my laptop where there is internet).  Soon. I promise.

Happy STD Awareness Month!

Yup, there actually is an STD Awareness Month. And that month is April!

I had two amazing health classes this semester. I have learned a ton and loved every minute of these classes.  To give you a feel about how my infectious disease class was like....

- What's the difference between love and herpes?  Herpes is forever.

Last Week of Winter!

Today=HOURS of Interior Design. Wish me luck.

I only have 7 hours of class left of this semester!!!! And two of those hours are volleyball. Heck yes. 

Now, back to last weekend.

We went to the Saturday morning session with Lively (He served in our ward back home) and his roommate Ben.  While waiting for Nick to get our tickets, guess who we see! DeAndra's brother who is serving in Salt Lake.

We then headed home so we could catch the afternoon session, that I slept through.

Marissa and I made cinnamon rolls that night for Sunday morning.  My first time making them without an aunt, grandma or mom.  They turned out pretty well.

We headed up to Salt Lake for the afternoon session (tickets courtesy from KC).  Javier, Pepe and Junior got tickets but didn't have a ride so we were going to take them anyway.  It was nice to be able to go in.  We got to visit with Judy and Gary for a bit but there are so much more security stuff that we didn't get to meet anyone.  Here they are afterward, they were looking for someone for a couple minutes but they never found them.  Still don't know who they were looking for. ha

Monday I bought roller blades!!!!!! We are so good.

I just have to mention again that I met one of the sexiest men on Tuesday.  :) 

Friday I had a date with Ben (Lively's roommate).  We went to dinner, played mini croquet at the Provo Beach Resort (I was TERRIBLE) and watched  a movie after.  It was tons of fun.  I hadn't even heard of this beach resort place so it was a good first time going.

Kelly Orgill (my first roommate) had her birthday last night.  Her sister in law made Cafe Rio food. It was delicious.  She also made a completely homemade oreo ice cream cake (okay, so the ice cream wasn't homemade).  It was soooo good.  It was good to see Kelly again and Taylor Cicotte (also from freshman year).  

Now I should start my work, huh?  Wish me luck to not procrastinate and actually get everything done fast!

BEST DAY EVER!!!!

If you don't remember the major crush I have on Nick Martineau on the BYU basketball team go here:I promise I'm not a stalker

Well, I walked into the gym today before my coaching volleyball class and sat down by Chris. Started to complain about how I have so much to do and then looked up and saw Nick. Holy crap I could not stop shaking or talking about him. Chris was a good sport.  He said he would take my picture with him but I had to ask him. It was perfect.  He was walking out of the gym by himself so I asked him. I don't remember a time when my voice or hands were that shaky. You can probably guess how excited I was.  It took me about half an hour to stop shaking.  Definitely made my day.

So, we have this friend named Junior.  His real name: 'Eniketi Osolua Fevanga Junior.


He's Tongan, 28 years old,  majoring in Recreation Management and Youth Leadership and has cerebral palsy.  You have probably seen many pictures of him on here lately.  He was in my ward last year but I never really got the chance to really know him and those that take care of him.  I have to admit that I didn't understand what cerebral palsy was and I had no idea how I was supposed to communicate with him.  We got to meet his family today after General Conference, they are absolutely amazing.  He lives in WyView and most of those that help him have moved onto missions, marriage, jobs or just different housing.  

Last year I only got a glimpse of what these college students do for him.  I saw Aaron and Chris carrying him down 3 flights of stairs, people feeding him, hoisting him into cars, and giving him tons of love (sometimes maybe too much) haha. I knew that Chris, Aaron and Stacey give AT LEAST 2 hours (sometimes more than four) of their week to feed Junior at the Cannon.  This can be hard to do with homework, classes and just other stuff that people worry about, which is understandable.  They have been helping out with him for over a year now and have done so much for him and I am sure I don't even know the half of what they have done.

Lately you have had the chance to see more and  more pictures of Junior.  He lives with Pepe and Javier and Zach lives upstairs.  I knew Pepe and Javier last year but again, never got the chance to really know them.  I have seen from the outside stories like these where non family members help out their friends that are disabled so they can run a triathlon (I'm not dissing on these stories because I cry when I watch them and still think they are awesome).  Almost all the people who take care of Junior are not family members and have no obligation to take care of him.  They choose to live with him (or in the same stairwell so they can still help), choose to feed him, taught the nurses how to walk and take care of him (and still have to remind them of what they need to do for Junior), and still are able to be his friend even though the frustration can feel incredible high.  

 
Junior can't walk, go to the bathroom himself or feed himself.  These guys take Junior to the bathroom, change him and when he wants to go somewhere in the car- get him into the car.  Javier, Zach and Pepe all have jobs and are going to school. Even after super long days when they are exhausted they still haul this 200 pound guy to the bathroom.  When he needs to go up stairs because there isn't a ramp they carry him on their backs.  I feel terrible because I am a girl and can't change or take him to the bathroom and I can't really walk him because I am too short.  I try to help out as much as I can but it is nothing compared to what these guys do and how much they sacrifice to help Junior out.  The don't look for recognition and don't get any compensation.  Everything they do is voluntary.  You don't meet people like this every day.

President Uchtdorf talked us that we must do what Christ did and seek for opportunities.  He also reminded us that when we answer someone else's prayers, we usually answer our own.  If you missed his talk, go read it, it's awesome.

Hot tubbing

First off, check out this blog: 101 Happy People Project.
 We read about his story in the paper a couple days ago and I girl in my ward actually knows him. Pretty cool idea.

We got to listen to Mark Zuckerberg at the Marriott. It was cool to listen to him speak.  You can tell he is a normal guy, which I liked. 


Friday night we hot tubbing! It felt so good! The pool was super nice too.

We hit up IHOP afterward. Hot chocolate after that was so delicious.

The weekend was a lazier one, but much needed. Now back to American Heritage, Health classes and figuring out what my life will look like in the Spring and Fall.

Catching up before it's too late

Saturday night we headed back up to the Bottomless Pit. It was a huge group of people but still went well.  We had a bon fire going (thank goodness because it started snowing and it was freezing) and had lots of stuff to burn.  We even found a free couch that looked way sweet when it burnt.

Marissa and I went to the guys' ward (my freshman ward) to hear Zach talk. When we were moving to sit down by the bishop's wife she says, "Oh Javier! You have some cute girls with you today! It is refreshing to see such pretty faces!" I love her! haha She asked us if we were in the ward and I said I was in it last year. She just freaked out saying she knew she knew me but couldn't remember if I was in the ward now or in the past.  She asked who was older out of Marissa and I and couldn't believe Marissa was 3 and a half years older than me.  Throughout sacrament she made the funniest comments. Zach's talk was awesome and he made our whole row cry when he "sweated out of his eyes."  It was awesome to see the bishopric again.

Monday night we went with them to Brother Quist's (one of the counselors in their ward) house for FHE. I love their family.  We played Beatle's RockBand, had a Q&A with Junior (really cool), held their frog (made me miss the ones that are on our sidewalk in the summers), whooped Zach in arcade basketball and had brownies and homemade ice cream (we had it last year and on the way up to his house I was hoping we had it again.)

He wanted to take a shot at carrying Junior. 

His wife pretty much had a heart attack thinking he was going to ruin his back. 

We had a game last night. First round of tournament and won! They only had four girls on their team and two of the girls were super nice. One of them was on our team last year and she is the sweetest.  I don't know when our next game is but I am excited!

I am definitely sad about the game tonight. I will miss Jimmer.

I went to Oedipus the King with Preston (the guy I went on the triple blind date with).  It was an interesting play and a fun night.

Just so my momma knows

So last June I enrolled in an American Heritage class. I planned to have it finished by the end of summer but I underestimated by self discipline when I got two jobs and couldn't get past the suuuper boring introduction.  Well, since I have spent plenty of time procrastinating I have decided to start. I skipped the intro and have made it through the next three chapters. The sad thing is I didn't just decided this on my own, although I would pretty proud  of myself.  I was in Interior Design and we were learning about the styles of this time period and it made me think of our (kinda) family trip the East Coast this summer.  I decided I wanted to refresh my memory of history so I could be ready when we visit all the history sites and I won't have to fake knowing everything. Anyway, I plan to be done by the end of the semester. Finally!

Yay for not procrastinating any longer!

My Kind of Find

I am very particular about what Q-tips I use. They have to be Q-Tip brand. I cannot stand the plastic ones or the ones with barely any fuzz on them.  when I went to Smith's they didn't have the big pack that I usually get and I was pretty upset so I bought this small little box of them.  I am in LOVE with it now! They are so freaking adorable. They are called Vanity Packs.  I always stress about how to pack my q-tips but with this I can take it because they don't fall out. I was super excited. They have all sorts of different designs.  I may be a dork but this made my day.

CAMPING!!!

I LOVE CAMPING!!!! I loved seeing stars and being out in nature. I am a sucker for it.  It was a great weekend. And we watched Battle L.A. it was a pretty good movie. Thank you Sherry for letting us borrow some of your camping gear!!!