Naked Boy Strikes Again

Normally I don't blog twice a day, but this is absolutely necessary. NAKED BOY CAME BACK....NAKED. Again, naked is an exaggeration. He was wearing boxers. The same boxers as last time. That's right: same boy, same boxers, same level of nakedness. Only this time he had the loaner key still so I couldn't even give him a key. Luckily Jay happened to be here (which never happens on a Saturday) so he was able to escort the young man back to his room and unlock his door. Jay is pretty sure he is just trying to seduce me. Note: picking up a girl by locking yourself out of your room naked does NOT have a high success rate. 0 for 2 to be exact.

After that traumatic experience, Jay made some random boy go buy me ice cream like a little kid who just got back from the doctor's office. I'm going to need therapy after this job.

Helaman Halls Front Desk, How May I Help You?

Y'all...my job is insane. Really. I just love it. Not only does my boss bring me food sometimes all the time, but I get to see/hear/do some crazy things.

(1) Today a girl came to the front desk flipping out because she accidentally flushed her room key, mail key, rape whistle, flash drive, and Hawaii keychain down the toilet. You read that right - not "dropped her keys in the toilet" FLUSHED! We're talking they went right down the drain. The toilet didn't even clog. Of course I had no earthly idea what I was supposed to do about this, so I called my favorite hall advisor who also had no idea what to do when a girl flushes her keys and her flash drive with all of her schoolwork on it down the drain. Ultimately it ended in a phone call to the police (yeap...I called the police about a toilet). Still waiting to see how this story will end. In the meantime, I will continue avoiding writing my paper (due on Monday) and tell you more crazy work stories.

(2) Naked boy. Okay, so I guess technically he wasn't naked. Boxer boy. See Sunday Best? blog post for the rest of that story.

(3) The fight. I'm exaggerating again. It was an almost fight. I forget if I've already blogged about this or not. Long story short, two smaller boys allegedly were talking about one bigger boy's wife. Bigger boy got angry, smaller boys ran to me (as if I could protect them) and then a hall advisor saved me by taking care of it while I hid behind the desk. Man, another exaggeration. I didn't hide. I just stayed behind the desk not hiding.

(4) THE button. You know those under-the-desk-silent-alarm-emergency buttons that no one ever really gets to push but you always really  want to push? I pushed it. No, not for an emergency. Just a test run. They were working on it during my shift one day and I begged the guy to let me push it. It just wouldn't be fair if he had all the fun.

Okay, that's enough storytelling for now. I should really write my paper.

How warm was YOUR shower today?

We haven't exactly had warm water for showers the past couple days. Today was especially cold. The water wasn't just not hot, it was absolutely frigid. I guess that's the price I pay for living in a cheap apartment [totally worth it].

Cold showers make me appreciate hot showers. I am looking forward oh so much to a [hopefully] warm shower tomorrow. Or at the very least, a shower that doesn't feel like I fell into a hole in an iceberg.

Scripture Power

Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. I feed my physical body three times a day (most days). But what about my spiritual self? How much am I nourishing my spirit? Well, I think my spirit is "eating" better than ever before this semester. Maybe even better than my physical body (how long can one survive on granola bars?)

Breakfast for the soul: Book of Mormon reading correlating (mostly) with the Sunday school schedule. I admit "breakfast" needs some help. Yes, I do it daily, but it's more like snacking. I should "eat" better before I start my day.

Lunch at the spiritual cafe: This mostly consists of assigned reading for my New Testament class. I love that reading scriptures is part of my homework. I'm a little more awake by this time, so I probably get a little more out of it than I do in the morning. But I get most of my good stuff in class. I guess I am just a social learner.

Dinner family style: At church on Sunday, Bishop Harward challenged us to read the Book of Mormon as a ward. He wants us to all read of about the same pace so that we can take time and discuss what we're reading. My roommates and I decided to read together, as an apartment. We're reading every night and we have the best discussions. I absolutely love hearing their insights. We won't finish until the end of winter semester, but so far it has been so rewarding. I love bonding with my roomies over the Word of God.

There is power in the scriptures. Power that helps you not be stressed even when school is crazy. Power to help you find joy. Power to bring roommates together. Power to dismiss contention. Power to make home a little piece of heaven.

Life in a Provo Singles Ward

I love my ward. I really do. The people are fantastic. But let me just tell ya, it is most definitely a Provo singles ward. Today the majority of the ward received callings (I got called as a visiting teacher supervisor). This is not a joke:  our ward has a dating committee. It's a legit calling. For real. It's one of those callings I would like to avoid if possible, but it is a calling. When Bishop Harward asked for a sustaining vote for those called to the dating committee he said, "It's no secret. We want you to get married." Ohhhhhh Provo, the only place in the U.S. where you can be in your twenties and an old maid.

Other marriage/love stories of the day (I'm telling you...Provo single life is SURROUNDED by lovers/talk of how you need to find a mate):

• David and Matt came over to watch the CES devotional with us and before it started David said "Well, who wants to bet it'll be about marriage?" Haha, it wasn't.
• Jeff gave a spiritual thought at ward prayer on love. Kevin said it was because they have to squeeze in marriage/love lessons whenever possible.
• Alan came over after ward prayer to talk to Alena and I about relationships and dumb people.
• A girl a couple doors down got engaged yesterday and came by this morning to show us the ring and tell the story.
• Chloe is convinced I'm going to marry a certain someone in the ward. No, I do not like him. No, I do not even really know him. But Chloe is convinced. She's been reminding me about it every day and every time we see him.

Yes, I definitely live in Provo, Utah in a ward of RMs.

Tender Mercies

Do you ever have days where you are just very aware of how well Heavenly Father knows your wants and needs? Today was a day like that.

Thursdays are supposed to be terrible. It is my scheduled "bad day". I figure if I schedule one bad day a week, I'll know to be prepared to be cranky/stressed/tired and I can be bubbly/happy/energetic the rest of the week. Well, I guess I'm just meant to love Thursdays just as much as every other day of the week, because even though today was incredibly busy, I can't complain about a single thing.

I have an 8 o'clock lab on Thursday mornings. Yuck. But, I made it to class on time. AND we finished our homework in class. WIN.

My next class of the day was World Religions. My professor is very Korean. Sometimes it makes me chuckle to see the way he writes on the bored. He writes in English, but sometimes it looks like a foreign language because of the way he forms his letters. I'll have to take a picture of the board sometime. Anyway, I just really like that class.

Work today was pretty great. We had a staff meeting and those are always pretty entertaining, then, Jay brought me a chicken sandwhich for lunch. Evidently Arby's was giving them away as a promotion. Seeing as I don't have time for a hot meal (or any meal really) on Thursdays, the scrumptious sandwich was definitely a tender mercy. Especially so since I had to work late and didn't have time to eat before my evening class.

My Psych220 class is two and a half hours long. That is a very long time to sit and not fall asleep. Tender mercy? Mucho attractive boy in the class. Do I ever plan on talking to said boy? No, he's not my type. But he definitely makes class a little better just by his presence. Also, I am in a really good group for a group presentation in a few weeks. Big plus. To top it all off, we got out of class 15 minutes early.

On my walk home from pysch it was just starting to sprinkle. I didn't have an umbrella with me, so I walked real fast. Not long after I got home, the sprinkle turned into rain. Oh the tender mercy of getting out of class early enough to make it home before the downpour.

Following the rain was my favorite tender mercy of the day: a HUGE double rainbow! I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing because it was too big! Both rainbows were complete. I could see from end to end. Absolutely breathtaking.

Due to yet another tender mercy (the Lord helping me finish all completely, absolutely, neccessary homework yesterday) I was able to spend the remainder of my evening at Divine Comedy auditions with Megan, Greta, Chloe, Alena, and Kevin. It was hilarious. And free. Two of my favorite things.

When we got home, somehow it turned into a dance party. Yeap, B38 is the place to be.

Basically, I love my life. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who blesses me in ways that are personal and that help me feel His love.

Jam Sesh

Yet another blog post that I am writing to avoid doing homework. This has to stop. But not tonight :)

Last night we had cake for Megan's birthday (cake made by yours truly, and everyone loved it. man, i am GOOD at making cake out of a box). We invited some guys from our ward and ended up with quite the party. The boys from B11 wrote Megan a birthday song and the party turned into a big jam sesh. We did this German techno where you layer sounds and even had rap crew battles. Such a blast.

In other news, I cranked out an 8(?) page paper today. Due tomorrow. The question mark is because the 8 is questionable/maybe-probably-okay-for-real-more-like-seven. AND I finally did my laundry. I still had clean clothes, but the amount of dirty clothes piling up was getting ridiculous. I hadn't done laundry since I came back to school. Whoops :) On the bright side, I have enough clean clothes right now to clothe a 3rd world country.

Okay. Homework time. For real.

Star light, star bright

On Sunday night Megan, Greta and I were sitting outside of our apartment looking at the stars. Except you can't really see many stars with all the light pollution. Solution? Drive up the canyon and look at the stars from up in the mountains.

I just love how spontaneous my friends are. Megan and I were set on going 10 seconds after we thought of it. As soon as Greta knew we were serious, she was in. Chloe and Carine immediately joined in the adventure. One thing led to the next and eventually we had a group of about 15 people who put on warm clothes, grabbed blankets, and ventured to the mountains with us.

Megan, David, Greta and me

 It was very chilly and rocky, but we had a blast! We played our new favorite word game and told lots of stories. It was so much fun to get to know people better. I already love the ward so so much. I was SO glad to find spontaneous people. The kind of people who drop everything to go to the mountains and look at stars are my kind of people.

the crew

Stuart, Greta, me, Megan, and David

Oh, and did I mention Carine was here this weekend? She made a quick weekend trip to Provo before she leaves for her study abroad in Paris this Wednesday. It was great to see her - we are really going to miss her!

Megan, me, Greta, and Carine

I wish I could figure out how to put into words how much fun we had, but I dont even know why it was so much fun. It just was. Some of the group went home early, but some of us stayed until a little after 2 a.m. when we finally got too cold.

This has definitely been a weekend to remember. So many fun things have been happening, but I don't have time to blog. In fact, I really should be doing homework right now...

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two of my best friends - Megan (my roomie) and Jessica (my LDBFF)

Sunday Best?

The dress and grooming of both men and women should always be modest, neat, and clean, consistent with the dignity adherent to representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and any of its institutions of higher education. Modesty and cleanliness are important values that reflect personal dignity and integrity...

-BYU Honor Code

Sundays at the Cannon are nice and quiet. I read my scriptures, write missionary letters, do some indexing...basically everything I would do on a Sunday morning if I wasn't at work. Usually, nothing exciting happens. But today, a boy came to get a loaner key (he was locked out) in his boxers. Who does that? Who just walks around highly public areas in their underwear?! I mean, yes, he was locked out, but seriously? Ask someone if you can borrow some shorts and a shirt! Or get your RA to let you in! Don't just saunter up to the desk mostly naked.

In above mentioned boy's favor, I will say he followed the "clean" part of the honor code quite well since he had obviously just taken a shower. So props to naked boy for showering, but next time remember your room key.