Bowling

I forgot how much fun bowling is :) I haven't bowled in years and yesterday, I took Sam and the Twins out for some bonding. Julie was at the zoo with a friend so we went out to have some fun of our own. Sadly, no one broke 100, and Allyson didn't even break 20! ;P I don't know if I should admit our scores, but here goes — TTFN

Emma: 35

Allyoop: 19

SamDaMan: 94

KooKoo: 74

Wanna hear a great pick-up line?

It was totally smooth. And when I told my little brother Sam about it, he said, "Hey I should use that!" So I'm standing outside of the airport terminal in Houston (Oh, I made it, by the way! I'm home, I'm home!) waiting to see the blue Ford Expedition that holds my family. I hear someone to my right say "Excuse me, do you have any gum?" I turn and there is a boy about my height and age with light brown skin (probably partially black) and with four or six inches of that awesome hair only black kids can pull off (halfway between dreads and braids) staring expectantly at me. I was startled by his initiative to make contact with a stranger but encouraged by his friendly demeanor. I told him I did have gum and pulled my backpack off to get it. After handing him a piece of 5 Solstice, I planned to say "you're welcome, Merry Christmas, goodbye, etc." But he didn't leave! Not that I'm complaining, of course. That makes me sound like a hermit-y, anti-social Scrooge. But I expected it to be a very impersonal favor and then The End. But instead, he asked if I was coming home from school and it sort of took off from there. Travis and I chatted about school mostly — what we're studying and why, where we go and why, etc. I forgot how friendly people are in Houston!! Maybe he was just trying to get my number or something, but I had fun waiting for my family to pick me up :) It's nice to have random interactions to practice my people skills.

Also, my family is freaking hilarious! After dinner, we stayed at the table to eat dessert and that's when the stories came rolling in. We have a knack for laughing and I love it. One person will laugh at the actual story or scenario and that gets everyone else going. I usually end up gasping for air or accidentally letting a shrill squeal spill from my lips. It would be pointless for me to try to describe any of the banter that went on. But suffice it say that my family is quite a laugh and I love them :) TTFN

Mission: Complete

I'M DONE WITH FINALS!!!! At precisely 8:08pm, I submitted my very last final (the half I still had left, the one on Blackboard). And this afternoon, I took a 3.5 hour chemistry final. I was super pooped / wiped-out / exhausted / you name it, but I am so glad it is behind me — over and done with. After working, studying, and testing took their chunks out of my day, I walked home in freshly falling snow (dang cold snow make my feet all wet and freeze my dang ears off and then turn into slush and collect dirt and look like heaps of bitter nastiness piled on the side of the road, ick yuck gross). Okay, so maybe I have a complex to get over. But I get to go home to 60º-70º, a whopping 20º improvement over this "winter weather warning"I am experiencing in pretty little Provo. Well, I admit, this "White Christmas" idea is intriguing. (Speaking of which, that movie was on AMC tonight.) But I still like to see the sidewalks and the grass and stuff without a "snuggly white blanket".

So to finish out the semester my friend Rob invited me to, let's see, how did

he put it...."a celebratory evening in celebration of celebrating the end of school 'n stuff." How could I refuse?!? :)

We went to see a movie with some other friends which is just what I needed — a nice change of pace from the week and an unwinder. The Tourist with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp was AWESOME! I liked it a lot :) And we also got this sweet picture in front of a Pirates 4 stand-up. For the record, I don't have a stumpy arm, I'm doing a pirate hook! Overall, it was a great finish to a great semester. TTFN

Julie's visit

So Momma said there was a hilarious picture of Julie and me up...and there was. I've been changing the layout and used a funny picture of the two of us as a test. Unfortunately, she saw it while it was still in the works and told all of Facebook about it. So I figured I'd put it back up along with a few of the other pics from Julie's trip. We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake on the way home from picking her up at the airport. TTFN

Don't hate me, Juj. I love this picture :)

A cute one for good measure :)

We love to see the temple!

"Was her forehead really big, or was I looking through a couple of bubbles?"

Dear Diary, sorry it's been so long...

I used to start all of my journal entries like that after not writing for months at a time. Hmmm, sounds a little familiar :) But let's not cry over spilled milk; I'm writing now :) The semester is almost over and I've only got 1.5 finals left! The half is an online, take-home test that I've been chipping away at all week. Almost there...sigh...and then I get to go home on Saturday!!

Let's see, my favorite parts of this semester have been:

1) My relationships with my roommates have changed. Living with four of the same five girls from last year has been cool. I have been able to get to know Mindy better and the other girls even better. It was kind of like "no that we know each other, let's really get to know each other". And we switched up the room roommates so we're all sharing rooms with someone new. I'm rooming with Emily Rose this year and I love it! :) I'm learning so many new things from these girls about living, loving, and laughing.

2) I have found a major, one that I'm feeling really good about, and a career path. I am studying Clinical Laboratory Sciences and plan to go to PA (physician assistant) school after I get my Bachelor's degree. It's a 2 year program and I'll be pretty much almost a doctor, just without all the school and the debt. I'll get to work under a doctor, which is what I wanted to do anyway. The specialties I'm interested in right now are pediatrics and ENT.

3) Julie came to visit me! It was so fun to show her around BYU, introduce her to my roommates, and spend some quality time with my sister. We also made the rounds and saw all of our favorite people in Provo - David, Erin, Shelene. Her application is in so I guess it's just a waiting game...then...

4) I'm making more friends for life. I try to have at least one friend in each of my classes (mostly so that if I miss a class, I can get the notes). But really, I love all of my new friends this semester. I also love that I have started to get to know people in the ward. It's taken some work, but I'm learning to push outside of my comfort zone.

As I wrap up the semester and head on a new year, I'm starting to think about my resolutions for 2011. I'll get back to you on that. TTFN