I can't open my locker...

Some random post-Christmas pictures:


Hanging out the night before I left for Utah with my St. Francis Bank buddy Vickie! Notice that awesome retro chair... seriously, can I inherit that in your will Vickie? j/k

Eating a "Runza." Runzas are a Nebraska favorite... basically it's like a yummy roll filled with this hamburger/onion mixture. YUM. This was on the road trip out to BYU.

Hanging with the cousins in SLC... I love these girls!

Snowshoeing up at Sundance with Rissie (fellow Wisconsinite) and her friend Matt. It was a perfect day. And the lady who rented our snowshoes was named "Spike," well that' s what her nametag said. Hmm...

On the trail.

Well, life is just rolling along speedily... school is in full swing and it's INTENSE! My psychology research methods class is becoming my new best friend, or it should be, seeing as we'll be spending A LOT of time together :-) We have to design a research study with our assigned group, carry it out, and analyze the results. Basically, that's the class. However, there are a million things to learn before you can jump out there and start doing experiments, so sometimes I'm a little overwhelmed, but our prof. tells us that we'll be glad we took it if we're at all serious about graduate school.



Also, I'm officially regressing back to high school. Today I got a school locker. All the lockers in the union building and the library were sold out, so I got one in the engineering building. Um, yeah, I feel a bit out of place just being in there, with all that over-my-head math and science knowledge wafting through the air. Anyhow, I found my locker and like a 6th grader on the first day of school, I couldn't figure out the lock. It's ok, you can chuckle. I tried it about 7 times before some random guy called from down the hall, "Lock trouble?" He came over and got it on the first try.... hehe. Anyhow, I was't turning it completely the right way. Thanks random stranger guy!


Well, time to get back to studying, which is what I should be doing. Have a good weekend!

I'm a little sad to notice that perhaps my blogs are not quite as exciting as when I was in Spain... but I've decided that the trick to having a blog is being able to make anything interesting, and life itself is blog-worthy. Plus, since this is one of many ways I keep in touch with my widespread circle of friends, I must press on.... not to forget, it's fun to write random stuff on here.

Actually, what am I talking about? Being back at BYU is plenty interesting ... I'll try to think of some good stuff to share with ya'll. Stay tuned.

Flashback to Freshman Year

Ok, so I had to add this, given that I was just writing about how I keep running into people I still know at BYU. Today, I had another chance meeting. I was sitting in the Grant Building (the beloved "Testing Center"), and my freshman writing professor passed me in the hall. He stopped, looked for a second, and said, "Hi Lauren. How are you doing?" I couldn't believe that he remembered my name! Seriously, it's been going on 5.5 years since I took that class, during my first semester at BYU. I have probably run into him once since I took the class, and even though, yes, it was a small class, I am so impressed that he still knew my name on the drop of a hat. Wow! I guess I underestimate professors' abilities to remember students or something... I mean, they have so many students, I guess I'm just impressed that he would remember after that long. Anyhow, that made my day. Back when I had him as a professor, I told a couple of the students in our class that Brother Taggart looked like my Uncle Bob. I even took a picture with him on the last day of class so that I could show my family my "uncle-look-a-like" professor. He still looks like him. All I have to say is ... I love this school.

So, it's pretty incredible how many people I still know at this school, considering I've been away for 3.5 years. I've run into Milwaukee people, friends from when I went here before... I think my favorite has been running into "Mo," my great friend (Maria is her real name) from the dorms who I lost touch with after freshman year. I heard she went on a mission to the Philippines and that was the last thing I knew. Then, last week, as I was walking into the Grant building, there she was! I saw her from the side but immediately recognized my long lost friend (I think I last saw her at least 4 years ago). We had a nice little reunion before we both ran off to class again.

I guess between missions, graduate school, getting married, changing majors, and all the other things that might delay, interrupt, or prolong college, there are still quite a few friends around!

Already, too, I've met some great people, who will be fun people to get to know and hang out with. It's nice to be reminded that there are good people everywhere, and there are always opportunities to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It's a bit cliche, but it's true.

"Wax on... Wax off"

So, last night a bunch of us watched the Karate Kid Part I at my apartment. I bought the DVD in a truck stop in Iowa on the drive out to BYU. Already, it has proven much worth the $10 I paid for the "Special Edition" DVD. I watched it on my laptop in the car-ride and narrated to my parents in the front as we drove through Wyoming. Then, last night, after watching BYU Men's volleyball crush UCLA (ranked #3), we were talking at Denny's about our favorite movies. Naturally, this led to our watching of the 80's classic at my house.

It was pretty funny... a random group of BYUer's, who didn't all know each other, all brought together by Mr. Miyagi. We watched and cheered, even though we all knew exactly what would happen. Seriously, how can you not love a movie about a scrawny underdog with limited karate skills kicking the trash out of a jerky apprentice of a scary Sensei?

A few of our favorite moments:

"Hey, it's the 80's!" This is when Daniel lets Alli drive his new car that Mr. Miyagi gave him on his 16th birthday. When Alli is surprised that Daniel wants her to drive, he offers this classic line.

"Get him a body bag!" This line is shouted out by one of the Cobras when Jonny strikes Daniel in the leg, an illegal move that practically takes him out. The look on the Cobra kid's face is pretty awful acting, but it is a hilarious line.

"This is karate, not a knitting class. You don't come in to my dojo and drop a challenge and leave, Old Man." This is the mean sensei talking to Mr. Miyagi when Miyagi tries to get the Cobras to leave Daniel alone and not resort to fighting. Mean Sensei is just plain scary.

"Wax on...wax off." Only Mr. Miyagi is able to combine chores with karate lessons. He is a multi-tasker.

Well, watching old classics is never dull, and if you ever have a bad day, just bust out the Karate Kid, and you'll finish with "You're the best around" inspiring you to face the Jonnys of the world.

Back at BYU

Well, here I am! I'm back in Provo to finish college at BYU. My parents and I drove out last week, stopping half-way in Grand Island, Nebraska, and after some slight delays from snow and ice in Wyoming, we rolled into Provo on Thursday evening.

I moved in to my new apartment Friday, and I was excited to see that this was easily going to be the best apartment I've ever lived in (in terms of quality). My roommate hasn't come back from winter break yet, but she left me a note and some candy, so that's a good sign! My friend Chelsa said my roommate Amanda is really excited to have a roommate, since her old roommate moved out. Hopefully we'll have fun together... I noticed she had snowboarding and rock-climbing gear, so that made me excited too... perhaps I've found a snowboarding buddy!

My parents and I had fun just chilling in Utah a little and we got to have dinner with some relatives up in SLC. I dropped my parents off at the airport today, and I must admit, when they left, I was feeling some tinges of nervousness to be back out here, since my parents were now gone and I realized "I'm really here!" I guess I've gotten use to having my parents around going to school in Milwaukee for a year! But, at least we can talk more on the phone than we could in Spain... so that's cool :-)

My ward at church seems great... my bishop said that it's a slightly older singles' ward, which is fine with me since I'm 24 and so I'm not sure but I'm guessing I'm in the average age of the ward. Funny enough, I came late to church today and slipped into sacrament meeting. Since it was fast and testimony Sunday, I thought, why not get up? After bearing my testimony to a bunch of strangers and introducing myself as a new member of the ward from Wisconsin, I found out after the meeting end that it wasn't my ward! Haha... my ward met UPSTAIRS. Anyhow, another girl had done the same thing, so we laughed about it later.

Well, I start school tomorrow, crazy! It still hasn't totally set in that I go to BYU again. I haven't had too much of a hard time adjusting so far... overall I'm just really excited to get to finish college at the school where I started and spend some time here in Provo! There is snow up on the mountains, so I will have to make some time to do a little snowboarding too :-)

Well, a 2 day car trip in a Pontiac vibe, packed to the gills with my stuff, an Agatha Christie book-on-tape, some good convos with my parents, and crossing 5 states, and I'm here! I'll let you know how school goes! And Happy 2007 to everyone! I still have yet to do resolutions... this week, this week.

Back in Wisco

Rochelle at her bridal shower... with her two matching teapots! Oops, I guess bridal registries can't always prevent duplicates. Hehe. The family on Christmas! Awww... I love Christmas at home.
3 generations... all enjoying Christmas together after opening a few presents. Aunt Ruth (96) is cheering for the gifts she got :-)
Today, Jared and Rissie, two friends from church, and I went to the kite festival on the Lake Michigan lakefront. A little chilly, but definitely fun! My kite was rebellious, it kept diving and it seriously almost took Rissie's head off like 3 times. Yikes!

Polar Bear on Milwaukee lakefront! Every year on January 1st, at noon, Milwaukeeans jump into Lake Michigan... yes, it is freezing! I didn't do it this time, but I'm planning on doing it at least one time in my life - it was definitely fun to watch though. This group is from church...
The crazy Polar Bears!
We had to put our dog Mocha to sleep. Here's a picture of the little gal on her last day... it was SAD! I had a teary moment right after she left for the vet. She has been really sick this year and wasn't getting better, and so we had to put her down a few days after Christmas. I miss having a dog! Don't think the family will get another one, at least not right now, but I guess I'll just have to get a dog someday! I will miss this one!
Here are Rochelle, Ami and I at Rochelle's wedding reception a few days after Christmas. My former roommate is all grown-up! And isn't her dress pretty??

Well, I made it home and it's been a great Christmas break! After a 8.5 hour flight from Madrid to Chicago, with a tall basketball player behind me (who wouldn't really let me lean my chair back since his legs were so long.... that got a little uncomfortable trying to sleep straight up, I'm not gonna lie) and a long line in customs, I came out of O'hare to see my parents waiting for me with flowers! What a great welcome! Since then, it's been crazy and fun as I've enjoyed Christmas and New Years at home in Milwaukee. I gave a bridal shower and went to a wedding reception for my former roommate Rochelle, saw a few of the high school and church friends, and had lots of good family time with my brother home. Sam had to head back to NY today, and now I'm getting ready to go to Provo on Wednesday... school starts up again next week already! I'm a little nervous and a little sad to be leaving Milwaukee, but I'm also really excited to head back to finish up at BYU, where I started college. It'll be interesting to see how things have changed since I've been there, and also to see who is still actually there that I know! So far, it seems that there are a good number of people there that I know... some from when I was at BYU, others from church in WI... so I'll have a good base of people to come back to. I will graduate in a year from now at the most, so it's the last stretch of college for me! Hard to believe... I gotta start that whole "What do I do now?" planning soon... I'll keep you posted!