First. Primero. Première.

So my friend, Talyn, started a blog challenge where she gets on and posts something once a week. I am not so naïve to think that I will commit to join her in the challenge, but it's always a good time to start blogging again :)

Since I last blogged, I've finished one more semester (almost two) of college at the BYUtiful school in the cute little town of Provo, Utah. But that doesn't really tell you anything about WHAT has happened in the last 9 months. 9 months??? That's enough time to grow a baby!! Don't worry, that's not what I did! But a lot of my friends did...weird, I'm THAT old. Anyway, I've come up with a list of "firsts" to describe my last 9 months. I've thought about putting up pictures that go along with each one, but we all know that would make this post non-existent. One more excuse for me NOT to post this for another 9 months. But if you're interested, I kept a pretty good photo diary on my Facebook.

First semester of college with Julie -- my sister and I go to the same school again!
First drive-in movie
First time on a long board -- I'm not that bad
First bite of curry -- thanks Shelene!
First famous concert -- Lea Salonga in Concert at BYU
First success on a wakeboard
First kiss
First boyfriend
First hike of the year -- canyoneered 'The Subway Trail' in Zion National Park
A new 'posse' -- not a 'first', but noteworthy nonetheless
First trench coat -- it keeps my bum warm!

First real-world promotion at work

First international roommate (she's from Columbia!)

First basketball game in Salt Lake City
First failing grade
First heartbreak
First hockey game
First jump in a frozen lake (1m30s, 3'C water in January) -- not the smartest date I've accepted

First relationship with a professor - I ask such good questions, he remembers who I am!

If I think of more, I'll add them. For now, I spend my time doing homework, being studious, advising and assisting international students, playing Rock Band and Just Dance 3, and recently taking advantage of the sunshine and putting on some shorts -- yeah, it's still 55'F but I think my blood has gotten thicker :) I think Spring is finally on it's way! Here's to "firsts" and other new things. TTFN

Julia Child and Tortilla Española

Today I was flipping through channels and watched a clip of Julie and Julia where Amy Adams's character decides to start cooking her way through Julia Child's cookbook and write a blog about it. That reminded me, "Hey I have a blog too!" "Yeah," I thought, "I should work on that." So here I am, back online. I was sort of on a fast from my computer. It was unintentional, but it felt good. No Facebook, Gmail, or Googling things for the heck of it. Instead, I have gone to work every day, loving my job and my scrubs. I have read Mr. Popper's Penguins and Handle with Care. I spent time with my family at Brazos Bend, The Battleship Texas and San Jacinto Monument. I went to Quintana beach in Galveston with my posse. I bought a new swimsuit, burned to a fiery crisp, and sloughed skin like I was a snake or cicada. And today, I made Tortilla Española with my Daddy. I bought him a Spanish cookbook years ago for Christmas and it has a really good recipe for one of the best tapas I have ever had (also the only tapa I have ever had). I made it at BYU for extra credit in my Spanish class and it didn't turn out too bad. Daddy's got the technique down better than I do, but I'm working on mine. It's not the kind of tortilla we gringos first think of, though. It's made with potatoes, onions, and eggs. It looks kind of like a huge omelet. We also added green chilies to one and bacon bits to the other. Mmmmm these are really tasty! Muy rico :) So here's my small attempt at blogging about my cooking endeavors. TTFN

PJs at work? Yes!

I finally did it!! Well I guess it's not so much my accomplishment as it is that someone finally called me back! But I have a job! On Wednesday, I started working at the front desk of a family practice office. The lady who works there now is having surgery next week and will be out for about a month. She's been training me on the procedures for checking patients in and showing me the ropes of the office. Everyone who works in the practice has been there for at least 4 years, some as long as 9 or 15. There's no way I can hope to jump into their routine or camaraderie so fast, but they are all super nice and I think I'm going to like working there. The actual tasks are not too difficult but I don't have a lot of down time. There are 2 doctors, 3 PAs, 1 LVN, 6 MAs, and the office staff (that includes me!) in the practice. In addition to using my secretarial and customer service skills, I am picking up valuable healthcare skills. I am getting exposure to lots of medical terminology, and I get to talk to the PAs at lunch (that was a cool day). But I think my favorite part of the job, which I technically haven't even experienced yet, is that I get to wear my very first set of scrubs!! I'm going out to buy them today. Holy cow I am so excited!! PJ and sneakers st work! "Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot." TTFN

{{SUBMIT}}

So I think I'm kind of a pro at hitting the submit button now. I just applied for 23 job postings today online. Thank goodness they invented Craig's List! It's like the cornucopia of good tidings :) 157 copies of your text book?...check. Piano lessons from the lady down the street?...what's your price range? Healthcare jobs in the Houston area?...you betcha! I had to eliminate all the ads asking for Registered Nurses. But after that, I had a pretty decent pool to start with. I'm not super qualified at this point - I haven't done anything noteworthy in the healthcare/medical field. I'll keep looking tomorrow and hopefully people start getting back to me.

In other news, my sister is an academic whiz! Who knew? ;) In addition to singing a capella with other Seniors from the Varsity choir, Julie was recognized for outstanding work in her Government and Economics classes and will graduate Cum Laude next month. I am proud to call her my seeester.

And one more thing: I'm going to Six Flags Fiesta Texas on Saturday with my other favorite sisters! I love being an adult and getting to do cool big kid things :) TTFN

World traveler

So I'm kind of a compulsive traveler :) Last week, I was in 4 states in 7 days! Utah - Texas - California - Arizona. And I'm going to AZ again for a friend's wedding at the end of this week. Boy, do I love having a Daddy who worked for the airline or what?! Bam! I am dreading the day I turn 24 (when I lose all my flight benefits), but for now I think I'll just worry about all the places I am going to go in the next 4 years. Hmm...Spain for sure, other European countries, probably New York to catch an afternoon show on Broadway ;) and various other destinations. Okay, destinations aside, where am I going to get money for food and taxis? Here's the part where some fabulous hospital in Houston offers Katie a job so she can be a real-life traveler, not the fake kind from movies :) TTFN

Home for a sec

I'm home!!! I'm done with my finals (hallelujah) and I'm back in Houston. My battery is about to die and I'm too lazy to plug this thing in :)

But I just want to say that I love my family. I love Easter. I love Disneyland! I'm going there tomorrow (yes, you can be jealous). And Fantine's and Cosette's songs STILL put me to sleep.

I can't wait for Heaven

I watched The Notebook again tonight at a super fun bachelorette party for a girlie who is getting married in 20 days! While I watched, I thought about Grandma Willis and her Alzheimer's and dementia before she died. I cherish all the memories I have accumulated over the past 20 years. I can't imagine losing them.

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I can't wait until I can meet her in Heaven. I mean, really meet her. I was talking to my aunt and my cousins a few years ago and found out that even my earliest memories of Grandma are after she started losing it. They are such great memories and I know she loved me, which makes me so excited to know her as her whole, perfected self some day :) I am grateful for the love of my Heavenly Father and His Plan that lets me know I can be with my family F..O..R..E..V..E..R.. The movie also made me reconsider going to medical school so I can cure Alzheimer's. Just another thing to think about :) TTFN

Back to YCL days

So...I'm pulling an all-nighter. Yeah I know it's not the last night of Girls' Camp or Christmas Eve. I'm going on a business trip this weekend to Tucson, AZ and Las Vegas, NV. We're leaving at 6 o'clock in the AM! It's already so late, I don't see the point in going to bed. I'll just be getting up in an hour anyway :P Don't worry, I'll sleep all the way from Provo to Vegas, which is a good 6 or 7 hours. Sweet!

This is my second trip with the International Services Office. Last year at about this same time, we went up to Seattle, WA. It was such a blast! I grew closer to my coworkers and learned a lot about my job. This year, I'm a little bit more of a pro, but I'll still be learning a lot. The point of the whole trip is a training meeting on Friday. We get to meet with representatives from the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, and a US Consul. It's gonna be way good. I'll try to keep track of all the things I learn:) TTFN

I can't sleep...I can't eat...*gasp* You can't eat???

Oh wow. There are like 80 bazillion things running around in my brain right now and they are keeping me from getting ready for bed! This is so not fair. So how about if I write down the blogish ones and then maybe there will be some room for sleep in my brain.

1. It rained the other day and guess what I saw on my way to school? EARTHWORMS!! The sidewalks were covered in little squiggles. It was a beautifully sunny day :) But guess what I saw on my way home? A bunch of shriveled up squiggles. The poor guys. So Spring is here, yes? I think so.
2. My Spanish teacher let us have class outside last week! She is a little bit of a pushover, but we managed to control ourselves.
3. My Heavenly Father loves me! Sunday was one of the most enriching days I've had in a long time. Seriously, it was awesome. In addition to the marvelous Sunday full of personal reminders of His love for me, the University Forum address was outstanding! I was literally on the verge of tears. Here's a link to the address by Michael Flaherty, President of Walden Media, entitled "On a Film and a Prayer: The Stories of Our Lives."
   
4. Our kitchen sink broke! At 10:00 tonight! Water started coming up out of the drain and almost overflowed like The Wet Bandits' trademark in Home Alone. This was my first real "I live in a college apartment that's older than my grandparents, and my Daddy can't fix things for me" experience. I had to call the emergency maintenance number and a guy came about a half hour later. He didn't have everything he needed so he's coming back in the morning. Just one thing...how am I supposed to wash the dishes and clean the sink for cleaning checks tomorrow? I leave early and don't come back til late. Eh, I wrote a letter to the lady who checks and asked her to not to charge me a recheck fee because I promised to do them when I got home. We'll see :)

Hmmmm I think I am winding down. It was good to get that all out. TTFN

The End of the Alphabet

I love my Daddy. And I love my Momma for marrying him. I love his family, the closeness we all enjoy, and the history of the Willises. But can I just say that sometimes it drives me crazy to be a 'W'? Gah! I'm always, well mostly always, at the end of the list. The end of the line. The back corner of the classroom. The last oral presentation which means the most time to stress out. By the time it gets to me, I've forgotten we are even taking role, so I look like a goob confessing that I wasn't paying attention and asking the teacher to repeat the question because I started talking to a neighbor all the way back at 'H'. This came up in my chem recitation today when the TA was handing back our tests (we are not going to talk about how I did). He made some comment about how I was waiting so patiently all the way to the end of the stack but that I'm probably used to it. I retorted, "Yeah, I had better marry someone who's last name starts with 'A' or something." The class thought that was pretty funny which made me feel downright witty :) But that's not even the best thing. At the end of class, the guy in the next row over and I were talking and he congratulated me on my bold comment and told me his last name started with 'B' which is almost 'A'. I wish I could say he proceeded to ask me out, but that would be a lie. What he really said was that he had always taken his name for granted and never really thought about the people at the end of the alphabet. TTFN

Scrap the Challenge! + Spain + A new apartment

Okay so I'm not as good with structure as I would like to think. I've been about to post a few times this week, but then I remembered "The Challenge". It made me change my mind about posting :( So I am going to scrap The Challenge and post what I want, when I want. Then maybe I'll pick up a few prompts from The Challenge if I feel like it.

Right now, I want to talk about two cool things that happened to me today:

• I am going to Madrid, Spain on a Study Abroad during fall semester 2012 (that part's not new) and I found out a girl in my Spanish class is going that same semester!!! (that part is). She is an awesome girl! She is super outgoing and loves to practice her Spanish whenever she can. I look up to her and her ability (more like will power) to resist using English when a conversation gets slow or tricky. Even though it's quite a long while away, I look forward to having Katelyn in my study abroad group. She'll be super fun and make Spain an even better experience :)

I bought a contract for fall/winter!! I will not be homeless next year! Yay!! I'm going to room with this super awesome girl named Amanda. I'm sure I'll introduce her soon. But for now, I'm just so stinkin' excited to have finally signed somewhere. It's about as far away from campus as I am living now, but on the Southeast end instead of the Northwest. It's basically the same price for a lot newer stuff. And we've heard all kinds of good things about the ward, the social scene, and the overall area. Oh, and we got one of the apartments with the new carpet! heehee :) I think we're going to love it there. TTFN

The Challenge

I got this from my friend, Kyli, who got it from another friend, Haley. I'm excited to have a theme/purpose for my posts. I feel like ever since I got back from Disney, the only reason for me to blog is to brag about my life. And I feel conceited consciously doing that online. But it's a good record of my life and my feelings and who I am right now.

Day 01 • Introduce yourself with pictures and words

Day 02 • Your first love

Day 03 • Your parents

Day 04 • What you ate today

Day 05 • Your definition of love

Day 06 • Your day

Day 07 • Your best friend

Day 08 • A moment

Day 09 • Your beliefs

Day 10 • What you wore today

Day 11 • Your siblings

Day 12 • What's in your bag

Day 13 • This week

Day 14 • What you wore today

Day 15 • Your dreams

Day 16 • Your first kiss

Day 17 • Your favorite memory

Day 18 • Your favorite birthday

Day 19 • Something you regret

Day 20 • This month

Day 21 • Another moment

Day 22 • Something that upsets you

Day 23 • Something that makes you feel better

Day 24 • Something that makes you cry

Day 25 • A first

Day 26 • Your fears

Day 27 • Your favorite place

Day 28 • Something that you miss

Day 29 • Your aspirations

Day 30 • One last moment

Hopefully this set of guidelines will help me get started with my journaling. I can't commit to every day for 30 days, but I will do this for the next 30 days that I blog. TTFN

Goal for 2011: Write in my Journal

We had a lesson in church today about personal revelation. Well, it turned into a lesson about writing in your journals. The teacher started by talking about reasons for personal revelation and different ways and times we get it. Several people made the same comment: "when I write down the impressions I get from the Spirit, I get more of them" :) After that, people started sharing stories about the abundance of blessings they received because of their journal writing and the cool things they remember from going back and reading past entries. It was a didactic one for me. I have never been any good at consistently keeping a journal. And I have never felt too bad about it...until today. It hit me: the full impact of all my personal history that will be forgotten because I don't take the time to write it down. It's a little depressing, actually. But that only strengthens my resolve and gives me a more personal reason to keep a journal. I won't do it just because my parents and the people I look up to tell me I should, but because I want to remember. I want to remember all the things I learn by the Spirit. I want to remember all the fun things that happen to me and the little miracles I see in my life and the lives of the people around me. I want to remember, and so I make this resolution: even though it's already February, this year I will write on this blog or in my journal often. Now it's in writing and it's official. TTFN

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

Family = Felicitous

I love family! Yesterday was a day filled with family, however far away they are. To start, I called my Uncle Kent for his birthday on the 21st. It was super good to talk to him since I haven't seen him in ages. One of the things I miss about living in Mesa is the proximity to cousin families because we always seemed to do something fun like shooting or going to the canyon on long weekends. As always, one of those days was followed by some lots of Pizza Hut and soda (thank you, Danas, for that mental connection to an otherwise run of the mill pizza supplier. After I talked to Uncle Kent, I remembered how good it felt to randomly call up some of my favorite people. So I called Grammy. I miss living around the corner from Grammy and Grandpa. But it was good to get the scoop on their lives and to tell her all about what's happening with my life and such.

Then this morning, I called Sam for his birthday, today. My baby brother is stinkin' 15 years old!! Sheesh!! It's so weird to live away from them all and not see them grow up. I love them so much. So last night, I went to bed content, knowing that family connections are where happiness lies. TTFN

I'm Alive!

So guess what? I'm still alive! My roommates have been asking me this question a lot this past week. I figure y'all probably have been too. I'm back at BYU and this first month has been insane. I've been dealing with PDWS (Post Disney Withdrawl Syndrom) apparently common in my coworkers and roommates from Florida :) I have been settling into a new ward and there is still room to grow as far as getting to know people. I've been trying to work out my new schedule and find a good balance of school, work, homework, downtime, roommate-bonding time and the like. This has been the hardest as I am juggling a biology, chemistry, and Spanish class, among others. But hey, I hear medical school is even harder. Oh joy :) This week, I've been kept in the library until some ungodly hours. Hence, I have gotten some sweet texts from concerned roommates who are looking out for my safety and sanity, "Where are you? Are you still alive? Come home safe!" I love these girls. But I don't love homework. Yeah, I guess you could call it diligence, but that doesn't make it any more fun. Not at all.

Now that I'm back from my Disney heaven, I guess it's time to alter my blog. Don't worry, it'll still be very...me...just more current. Thanks to all of you who tuned in over the summer. I loved sharing my stories with y'all and it totally gave me the motivation to keep a sort of journal, which I would so have regretted not doing. You're welcome to continue to follow, but I don't know if anything will top the magic of this summer. I'll continue to post, though. May your conscience be your guide. TTFN