As Mormons, we need to stop pretending like we have all the answers.

We don’t have all the answers.  Far too often, members of our church look down upon others for having honest questions.  At best, questioning is seen as an understandable moment of weakness, at worst it’s taken as a lack of testimony that will inevitably result in leaving the church or excommunication. I know many members (myself included) with a very strong dedication to the LDS church who are afraid to tell others of their wonderings for fear of being judged as weak or wavering. 

Questions are not a sign of weakness! They are a natural part of the growth and learning process. We should be celebrating the pursuit of further understanding and insight. I am honestly much more concerned about Mormons who don’t have any questions than the ones who do. How will they ever improve upon their knowledge? Will they simply live in complacence, satisfied that they have all the understanding that they will ever need? Do we truly believe, as the Articles of Faith state, that God “will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God”? And if so, will this revelation come to those who are complacently satisfied with the knowledge they already have, or will it come to those with a genuine curiosity and thirst for further insight?

Where would the church be today if Joseph Smith never asked questions? We obviously needed his questions for the first vision, but even beyond that we needed him to wonder, ponder, and ask about many additional doctrines in order to receive the revelation in the D&C. Do we truly believe that revelation is still real today? And do we know that it can come to any who ask, not simply the general authorities? Now, that’s not to suggest that individuals can receive revelation for the church, and I do believe that true revelations will not contradict core church doctrines. But I also know that God can greatly expand your knowledge of complex topics as you seek and ask questions.

If you think you have all the answers, you aren’t thinking hard enough. We have been told time and time again, for example, that the temple is a place of learning and that each time you go you can learn something new. And such it is with going to church, praying, reading your scriptures, etc. Are we using these opportunities as chances to learn something new and grow? Or are we simply reaffirming the things we already know and take for granted? An unfortunately common notion in the church is that we shouldn’t spend too much time reflecting on and contemplating those concepts which are difficult to understand and have led some to disbelieve. While I wholeheartedly support the idea to “doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith”, I also believe strongly that God does want us to (eventually) obtain all the knowledge of the universe. I also believe many answers will only come after we ask the questions.

Ask the tough questions! Not just about what decisions to make in your life, but ask for further understanding of difficult ideas. Think about the concepts that don’t make sense to you or seem to be contradictory. Pray for insight into whatever you find confusing. If you are like me, you will receive answers that may not be as direct as you thought. You may be expected to engage in detailed study of the topic. You may be expected to be patient as the answers are revealed a little at a time, or line upon line. You may even be expected to change aspects of your life so that you can be more in tune with the spirit to receive the answers you are looking for. But if you live right and are sincere, you will receive answers. 

But you will still not have all the answers. So when someone has a question, don’t assume that you have the answer, or that you know more about the topic than they do. Consider that it’s possible that they have spent much more time contemplating, studying, and praying about this topic than you have. Consider that maybe they have an even greater understanding of it than you do, and what they seek is an even higher level of insight. If the answer you think you know is one that you have always taken for granted and not spent much time pondering, they likely are looking for more details, and you are probably not the person who will provide them.

Realize it’s ok to not have all the answers. We have a tendency to want to explain away any potential conflicts of thought or difficult questions. Sometimes it’s ok and even more helpful to say, “You know what? I don’t understand that either.” It’s good to engage in thoughtful conversations and to brainstorm ideas. What’s not good is to assume that we understand all the facets of a topic, when there is certainly more we can learn. And ultimately, we can do what the missionaries are taught to do when they feel stumped: bear your testimony of what you do believe. In the end this is likely to have a more powerful impact than the answers you want to give. Take the time to think about hard concepts, listen to the questions of others, seek greater understanding, and resist the urge to overexplain.

Ahhhhh! There are chemicals in my food!

Some thoughts about the organic/natural food movement from a chemical engineer:

1)      There will always be chemicals in your food. No matter what you do. Even if you become super self-reliant and grow all of your own food in your backyard (which I don’t suggest). Let’s do a little review of high school chemistry real quick. What is food- and everything else in the world- made up of? Tiny atoms that are bonded together to form chemicals. Little hydrogens, oxygens, carbons, etc. We take two hydrogens and an oxygen and bond them together and what chemical do we get? Water! Similarly, we can take other atoms and bond them together to make chemicals. And without this structure, nothing exists. Nothing. Not even air. And especially not your food. Even if it’s organic.

2)      Just because a chemical has a fancy name does not mean it’s bad for you. Did you know that drink you’re having is filled with dihydrogen monoxide? I can’t believe you would drink that stuff! It’s a fancy name for water, actually. Oh and how about eating something flavored with 2-methyl butyraldehyde? Don’t like it? Then better stop eating blueberries. Even the all-natural, organic kind, because that chemical is in there. It’s not added, it’s already there.

3)      Just because a chemical is used in something non-food related, doesn’t mean it’s bad to have in your food.  Did you also know that the dihydrogen monoxide you are drinking is also used in windshield wiper fluid? Gross! Can you imagine putting the same chemical from windshield wiper fluid into your body? Oh and by the way, saying a chemical shouldn’t be eaten because it can be found in plastic is a copout.

4)      The Food and Drug Administration knows a whole lot more about what chemicals shouldn’t be in food than a simple google search does. Google is an amazing thing. We can learn so much about so many things. But that knowledge often puts us in danger of thinking we are smarter than experts because we read a Wikipedia page. The FDA is made up of people who have PhD’s in nutrition and chemistry and public health and food science. They know their stuff! And they have absolutely no motivation to allow toxic things to be put in your food. So maybe once you have studied one (or all!) of these topics for eight years of your life rather than reading a few blogs and talking to some friends, then feel free to question the FDA’s regulations about what chemicals should be allowed in foods.

5)      Food Manufacturers will never- I repeat- never put a chemical in your food that doesn’t serve a purpose. People seem to have this image in their heads of a mad scientist that mixes up weird chemicals and throws them in the food just for fun. Like the mad scientist says, “oh this long-named, funny sounding chemical is usually used for the rubber in car tires. But let’s add it to this batch of crackers I’m making. That will really have everyone coming back for more! And it will poison their children in the process!” Sounds ridiculous, right? Because it is. Any and every chemical you can find on an ingredient list is there for a reason. You may not agree with the reason, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. If you oppose preservatives or pesticides, that’s fine, but realize your food will go bad quicker and be willing to share your meal with the bugs!

6)      Organic food is much more likely to be recalled than non-organic food. One of the main reasons- bacteria. Can’t have any of those antibacterial preservatives for the federally regulated “organic” label. The result- you run the risk of bacteria. I’d personally rather FDA approved preservatives that have been studied thoroughly and determined to be safe.

7)      All foods are processed! This one couldn’t possibly be true! Oh but it is. Shocking, right? Every food goes through a process. I tried to find a good definition for what organic foodies consider “processed” and I struggled. I’m sure it’s out there and that’s fine. But just know even fresh produce generally goes through a manufacturing plant and is packaged into boxes or bags. Sure, you buy the stuff at the store looking fresh under the sprinklers, but remember, the workers just unloaded it from some sort of container it was shipped in.

8)      Vaccinate your children! Okay, I know this one isn’t food related at all. But it’s super important so I’m putting it anyway. Just as the FDA knows more than you about food, the Centers for Disease Control knows WAY more than you do about children and diseases. One of my biggest pet peeves is when parents act like they know more about a disease than a doctor does, just because they read the Wikipedia page, WebMD, and a blog of other parents’ opinions. Vaccinations are safe and important. If you disagree, talk to me after you have spent 10-12 hours a day studying them for a minimum of eight years. Because 99.9%* of the people who have done that will say to vaccinate your children.

(*A made up statistic. But I don’t care. There are plenty of reliable statistics out there for vaccinations. Start working on those eight years of study, and you will find them.)

9)      And finally, start appreciating progress. I get that life is too fast-paced sometimes. I agree we should stop and smell the roses once in a while. But that doesn’t mean we have to grow all our own food and live separate from society. We have modern food technology and medicine and it’s a wonderful thing.

Feed your kid apples and carrots instead of cookies and chips. If you want to grow your own garden, great. That’s a wonderful thing. But be informed if you are going to act informed. Don’t say you hate chemistry and then claim to be a nutrition expert. And above all else, don’t look down on your neighbor because she doesn’t eat as all-natural as you do.

Taxes and Grants for College Kids

So I've been doing a lot of research on taxes and Pell grants the past few months, and I just wanted to share some tips that I've learned. I just feel like there is a lot of money college kids could be getting that they aren't, usually because they don't know about it. Here's some things you may not have known:

-College kids should claim the American Opportunity Education credit! There is almost no excuse for not claiming this unless you are in your fifth year of college or you are a dependent with parents who make over $180,000. You can get up to $1000 refunded from the government even if you owe no taxes. If you owe taxes, they can be reduced up to $2500!

       What you can claim: any required fees or costs for the classes you are enrolled in. ie books, tuition, laptop, health insurance (for BYU), etc. You should try to think of every cost you can to maximize your benefit! And if you are paying your own tuition, there is NO reason not to be claiming the maximum amount of credit ($4000)

-You can still claim the American Opportunity Credit even if you have scholarships/grants! Just count up everything you paid for and then count the scholarships/grants as taxable income. That way you will get paid for your expenses and only be taxed for the scholarships/grants at a smaller percent.

-Taxable scholarships/grants don't count against you when you are filing FAFSA. That is- if you do it correctly. I didn't- but was then able to fix it- and am now getting $950 back. Woo hoo! Make sure you fill the form out correctly

-On FAFSA, you don't have to count scholarship/grant money you have in the bank as part of your assets! Subtract it out before you report how much money you have!

-The Pell grant formula is actually not just some mysterious mumbo-jumbo. You can figure out in advance how much grant money you should get with the charts and tables found here: http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/010512EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf

-Revise your tax form! I know, it sounds boring right? And your fancy tax software does it for you. But actually, a lot of times the software doesn't know all the benefits you can claim unless you tell it.

-You should still claim education benefits even if you are in your fifth year. Look into the lifelong learning credit or the education adjustment. You should also be claiming some sort of education benefit for every member of your family that is taking any college courses.

Well, that's most of what I can think of for now. But I'm almost positive I will post more in the next day or two. Also, I can help! Seriously, I love this stuff. (I'm weird, I know) But I also think I am pretty good at it. Last year I got more than $15,000 in grants and scholarships and we are learning more about how to get big tax refunds with the awesome education credits!

So yesterday I taught the class I TA for again. Except I was very sick. Then I came home and slept until  I started feeling better. Also, Ken just found out that he is getting $800 more than we expected in grant money. That's a pretty big deal I think. There is a lot you can do with $800.
Also Ken and I started taking this family finance class that is being offered at church. It's super interesting. Except too bad I had to leave early this week. Next week I should be able to go for the whole time hopefully. But then we might have to miss it the week after that. So we will see. But we are learning a lot of good tips about budgeting and grants and loans and stuff. And then I think in the future we will learn about investing and some other stuff... saving for retirement maybe? I'm not exactly sure. 
Ken's at work now. And I woke up because I went to bed at midnight and it's hard to sleep for more than nine hours. Especially when I took a three hour nap yesterday. Although I kinda wish I could sleep more.
Also today I am going to a bridal shower! Hooray! That will be very fun because I love bridal showers. And then I can see a lot of girls from high school. I like them. Maybe even more than some people I was better friends with in high school because now they don't talk to me. But the whole cheer group is very nice to me whenever I happen to see them. And they are always so enthusiastic about everything that it provides great entertainment.
Anyway, that's about it. We will probably watch the football game tonight and eat the blue chips and salsa that I won last week at the homecoming party Jenn invited me to. I won a whole gift basket! But we already ate some of the stuff last week.
That's all. Except for I wish that other people would write on their blog more. I know I don't really write on mine but I really like reading other people's more than writing on my own.

Quick Thoughts

Here are my thoughts for the day:
Texas is ridiculous.
Some people from Texas are particularly ridiculous.
Evolution is real.
The creation is real.
Christians teach evolution all the time.

Divorce Court

Wow... so Ken and I have been watching episodes of divorce court on youtube tonight... it's a pretty ridiculous show but also very funny. I can't believe how crazy some people are.  But anyway... it was definitely a nice break from school and work. And in other news... two people passed out today at work. We got two new girls doing blood research and apparently neither of them was that crazy about dealing so much with blood... so we will see how that goes since that's mostly all we do in the lab.

Teaching College

Yesterday, I taught a college class. That was pretty crazy. I have a new job as a TA (teaching assistant) for Chemical Engineering 378 aka Materials Science and Engineering. It's pretty fun. But yesterday the teacher had to go to his daughter's school play or something so he had me teach. It was a little scary, and I'm not sure how well I did. But, I tried my best. Hopefully the teacher can cover anything I didn't teach very well again later. Also, I have office hours where kids come and ask me questions about the homework. And yesterday a lot of kids came and asked me for help. I hope I was helpful to them. Also, I worked almost 15 hours this week. That is a lot more than I ever have during school. Usually I work about 5 or less. I still have my job doing blood research, but that will probably only be a couple hours here and there. So I am excited for my new job. Classes are ok, some of them seem pretty hard and boring. But we will see.

Summer

Wow. So it's been forever since I've written on my blog. I think part of the problem is that I feel like I have to write a ton and then it intimidates me and I don't want to go to the effort. So from now on I think I will write quicker, shorter posts. Also it didn't help that this summer I took an English class through independent study, which required a lot of writing and made it so I didn't want to write any more, even for a blog. But anyway, the summer was super great. I loved my internship and Minnesota. I met some pretty cool people at work and church and loved getting to know Ken's family better. Then a couple of weeks ago we left Minnesota and drove back to Utah (stopping in North Platte, NE of course). Then we spent half a day with Ken's brother and family and drove to Las Vegas. That was really fun. I love being with my family and I missed them a lot this summer. Plus we got to take a lot of naps and relax. Then after four days we drove to Long Beach, CA where we boarded our cruise ship! Our cruise was so fun and relaxing. Best vacation ever. The food was great, we explored Catalina Island, went horseback riding on the beaches of Mexico, and bought art at an art auction. And took at least one nap everyday. So it was perfect. Then we drove back through LV and on to Provo to start school again. We moved into our new apartment and encountered a few spiders in our storage unit. But all in all it worked out great and we have already unpacked a lot. Hopefully it won't take that much longer, but who knows with all of the clothes I have. Tomorrow should be an exciting day of school. I still can't believe we are starting school again. Ken thinks the whole summer just feels like a dream. I feel more like the summer was real and right now is a dream, but I'm sure I'll get used to life in Provo quickly enough.

Date Nights

Ken and I have the best date nights :) last night we went to rainforest cafe, shopping at the mall of america, and on the log chute ride (like splash mountain). Next week for our early anniversary celebration we signed up for the romance special at the hilton hotel: sparkling cider waiting for us in our room, fancy breakfast delivered to our room or in their restaurant (whatever we prefer), and late checkout. Plus we can go swimming in their pool/hot tub and plus anything else ken decides to plan :)

Anniversaries

As Ken and I are approaching our first year wedding anniversary, I have had some thoughts. A lot of people who are dating like to keep vigilant track of how long they have been dating, which is fine. But sometimes it bugs me when people say it's their anniversary when they aren't even married. Maybe if they said it's the anniversary of when they started dating or something it would be fine, but I just feel like saying it's their anniversary implies that they are married. Oh and people definitely should not say it's their anniversary today if what they really mean is that they have been dating for a month. That is pretty weird to me. I'm sorry if anyone reads this who does these things, but I am just saying my opinion. Also I think wedding anniversaries are a lot more to brag about than how long you've been dating. But the way other people use the word anniversary kind of makes it mean less I think. Like if I say it's my anniversary, I don't want people to think that I have only been dating the same guy for a month or even a year. Anyways, it's not really that big of a deal I guess I was just thinking.

First week in MN

Sorry I know I said I would write on Tuesday and I still haven't. It's just been pretty busy. Basically after I get home from work I just want to relax and play and do as little thinking as possible. But anyways now I will summarize my week. So on Tuesday I met my supervisor. He is really cool. And then I went to a fancy important meeting with him. At the meeting I found out more about what I am doing. Basically we do work on these super thin plastic films which are used in various products. The most recognizable of which are ipads, iphones, and ipods. So basically we make this fancy film that Apple puts on their screens in order to increase the battery life and make it easier to what's on the screen when the sun or a bright light is shining on it. 3M makes $4 for every ipad that is sold. So that's what we work on. But the other side of the building is where they are made. We just study them and try to improve them. What I am working on specifically is kind of a quality engineer thing. So when they make these films, sometimes defects are created and they can't use that portion of the film. I am going to be working this summer to help figure out why the defects are created so that we can minimize the amount of film that needs to be thrown away. Basically. Anyway the meeting was interesting also because they gave out plaques for everyone who had received a new patent in the past two months. And there were five plaques awarded! Crazy. And my supervisor told me that one guy has gotten over 100 patents in his life. These people are insane. And soooo smart. But anyway ya the rest of the week I just met a lot of people and tried to figure out what was going on. I started examining the defects under a microscope and taking pictures of them. And then I am apparently going to be using photoshop to enhance the pictures. We are going to make a manual for the manufacturing people so that when they find a defect, they will be able to look in the book and discover the cause and then try to go fix it so it doesn't happen again. I work with some cool people, although 90% of them are a ton older than me. But that's fine. Let's see... I have two desks :) in my little "cube" as they call it haha... although there really is plenty of space for me. It's nothing like some of the tiny cubicles you see on TV shows and movies. Also today we are going garage sale hunting. They have one huge garage sale weekend here and that's about the only time anyone ever does garage sales I guess. And it's this weekend. I've already seen tons of people setting up stuff. So it should be super exciting. I hope we find some cool stuff!

Intern Orientation

So today was my first day of my internship! It was pretty exciting. So I am going to pretty much go through my whole day today. Feel free to skip or skim parts if it's boring. So I woke up in the morning and there was a thunderstorm and it was pouring rain :( that definitely made me not want to get out of bed. But eventually I did and then I got all ready for the day and tried to dress somewhat "business casual." The only really tough part about that was that I didn't have any businesscasualy coats to wear since I left that kind of stuff in Provo for the summer. So I just wore a not so nice coat. Then I drove to work which was sooooo stressful. Because half of the city is trying to get to 3M at 8 o'clock in the morning. Because everyone works there. But eventually I made it. Then all of the interns and new employees went into this conference room and they gave us donuts and juice. My donut was especially delicious but also messy. Then we learned all about how to have good ethics and not sexually harrass each other and stuff like that. Then they gave us a break to socialize amongst ourselves and walk around the room and look at their various displays. They told us that it would be preparation for a trivia quiz which was to come. Then in the trivia quiz I knew the first question, so I answered it. But then the next five questions no one answered. So I felt kind of dumb. I knew the answer to another question later on but I decided not to answer since evidently no one else wanted to participate in the quiz and I didn't want to look like a suck-up. So the lady just told us all of the answers. I don't think that was as much fun for her but oh well. Then we got lots of free 3M products like highlighters, post-it notes, fancy pop-up tape, and adhesive bandages (not band-aids of course, that's Johnson & Johnson and they are our arch rivals). But then after that we got to learn about security and how to let someone know if we see something suspicious going on. Also 3M requires that you notify them if you have a restraining order for anyone. See, very valuable information. Then the interns and the new full-time employees split up. The interns went to take their pictures to get fancy employee badges. I think my picture looks pretty good. And it's on a really fun lanyard that I played with for the rest of the day. Then we got a mini tour of one of the buildings and saw the 3M store that is exclusively for employees where they sell all of their products at the manufacturing cost. They have all sorts of Scotch tape for 25 cents there! Crazy. But anyways then we went downstairs into another conference room. Then we went through some more meeting stuff and they tried to get us really excited to work for 3M. Then they fed us lunch. They had many choices, few of which appealed to me. I ended up going with the turkey caesar wrap. This turned out to be a good choice because it came with a cookie! Everyone else's came with potato salad except for the other guy who chose the turkey caesar wrap. The potato salad people were jealous. During lunch we played a game where we had to try to find similarities and differences between us. Differences were super easy. Similarities were much harder. Oh and here is a run down of the other interns. There were about 12-15 of them. 2 girls besides me. One black guy. One Chinese guy. One guy from Nepal? I think he said that... No other chemical engineers. A couple IT guys, a couple MBAs, a PhD student, a couple computer scientists, one mechanical engineer, one electrical engineer, one supply chain, one materials science. One girl from Georgia. Several from Michigan. A few from Minnesota. One from Iowa, a couple from Ohio. None married except me. Mainly about my age but a few older. Anyway then after lunch this guy from IT came and taught us a bunch of computer stuff. That was the most boring. I kept yawning and was getting super tired and it was hard to stay awake. Then a girl came and taught us about the service projects that 3M does. Then we filled out some paperwork and each got a laptop! That was pretty exciting because I didn't know that I was getting a laptop. And then I went home. My GPS directed me not to go on the freeway because of traffic so I took a side road instead. And that was the end of my day at work. The End.
Then Ken and I watched some 30 rock and made chicken cashew salad for the family. And now we just made brownies. That's all for today. But tomorrow I meet my supervisor so stay tuned to find out how that goes. I really hope he likes me. I'll let you know tomorrow!

Church Today and 3M Tomorrow

Today was my first day of church in Minnesota. It was fun. Except for a lot of people expected me to remember meeting them once at our wedding reception. I can't remember that well. Also Ken and I made a big poster out of construction paper that said Happy Mother's Day for Ken's mom. That was a super fun project. Oh the other thing about church was that a lot of people were asking me about my internship. All I really know is that I am working for 3M and I just figured out that it is in the Display and Graphics division. Well, half of the ward here works for 3M so they were all asking me more about what I would be doing and what building it's in and who I am working for. I really don't know. That's what I will find out tomorrow at Intern Orientation. Which I am excited for but also nervous. I really have no clue how many other interns will be there. I've always pictured in mind that there would be tons... like a few hundred but now I am thinking that there will be a lot less. But I really don't know what to expect. I also wonder if the other interns will be about my age and what the boy:girl ratio will be. Ken is convinced that I will be the only married one there. That could very well be. But I'm excited to see how it goes. I'm more nervous for the next day when I have to actually try to figure out what I will be doing the rest of the summer. Also I wonder if I will get any free Scotch tape or post-it notes. I will definitely post tomorrow about how it goes. Tonight we are having hamburgers and hot dogs. That will be good. Also I got a long nap today so that was super nice. But not much else to report for today because it hasn't really been all that eventful.

We made it!

Hello readers of my blog. Ken and I made it to Minnesota today. And we were welcomed. Also to Iowa. There were no welcome signs entering Wyoming or Nebraska but both Iowa and Minnesota had welcome signs so I felt much more welcome in those states. Also I forgot to say that on our drive yesterday, we saw an interesting statue of Abraham Lincoln. Except it's really only his head on top of some rocky stuff. We had some more super fun dance parties today and I also slept a lot on the road. But luckily Ken didn't so we made it safely. Then when we got to Ken's house we made a cheese pizza for dinner and then Ken's sister and nieces came over. They are very fun. One is especially talkative and tends to dominate conversations. But then the other girls just cut her off whenever they have anything to say so it works for them. We are staying in Ken's room, which is green. Ken loves green so much. I don't really mind it, it's kind of fun. Also I've been thinking a lot about our future. Ken's dad gave us updates on Ken's siblings and so it made me kind of wonder what we would be doing at their age. I'm pretty nervous to start my internship. I try not to worry about it too much but sometimes it's hard. Although I am super excited. I really hope people will be nice to me. I wonder if I will ever find any friends in Minnesota. I kind of feel like everyone will be a lot different than me, but I guess I don't know. I mean I feel like Ken and I are very similar so maybe there are more people kind of like Ken. So far Ken's family doesn't remind me all that much of him. Maybe his dad a little bit. His mom is mainly like Kari. Like very very similar to Kari. And I really like Kari so that's good. I miss Kari. She is so much fun. Also Kari is Ken's sister for people who don't know. She is on a mission. It would be fun if she was here, although it would definitely limit alone time for me and Ken. Also I decided I am not that big on grammar sometimes. Especially with "me and..." I live for that kind of grammar mistake. Ok not really but I like it. Also I decided I am super stubborn. Like with that for example. I like it and if anyone tells me to change that it will probably just make me want to do it more. That's probably not the best trait. I'm kind of worried about it. What if anytime anyone wants me to do something a certain way I purposely want to go against it? That wouldn't be ideal for anyone else. Luckily Ken mellows me out quite a bit. He is just so nice and caring and agrees with me but then helps me realize when I'm overreacting. But also he knows when I don't want to be told that I'm overreacting and then he just understands. I don't know how he does that when I'm being so ridiculous but he does. I am really glad that I will always have Ken to talk to about all of my thoughts, feelings, and worries. Also I have this blog. I will post a lot of my thoughts on this blog this summer I think. So keep reading. But that's it for tonight. Come back soon!

Adventures

Sorry to anyone who actually noticed I haven't written on my blog in forever. Basically, I've just been finishing an entire term in a week and a half... nbd. But anyway now I am in North Platte, Nebraska just hanging out and having dance parties. Tomorrow we get to drive across the rest of Nebraska and Iowa. That should be exciting. So far I've only seen Nebraska in the dark. But I have definitely been able to smell Nebraska. It's not the best smelling state I've ever been to. Actually, it's probably the worst. But we will see how Iowa turns out to be. Wyoming was fun, although everything was super dead so that was pretty boring. We stopped in Cheyenne at Arby's. That was... pretty much like every other Arby's I've ever been to. I guess that's the idea of a franchise. Oh but earlier we stopped at a place called Little America and I got an ice cream cone for 50 cents.That was good. Also my throat has been hurting a lot. It started hurting last night and this morning it got much worse. It probably doesn't help that I sing at the top of my lungs across the entire state of Wyoming. Maybe tomorrow I will focus more on the dancing than the singing. Anyway, I should probably go to bed so that I will be ready for ten more hours of driving tomorrow. Also I am soooo excited to start my internship on Monday! Also pretty nervous though. I hope people will like me and that I won't do or say anything dumb. I'll write about how it goes. Also we will be living with Ken's parents. I'm super excited about it. I will let everyone know how that is also.

Hooray!

The semester is almost over! I have two finals I still have to take today, but I feel like I've just about studied as much as I can for one and the other is just a take home essay assignment. So, I feel pretty done. Also, please note that I am not trying to be like the people I wrote about who are constantly looking forward to getting things done. I am just enjoying my life right now and excited for new and upcoming adventures. After my two finals I plan to sleep in tomorrow morning while Ken takes his last final and then we are going to Las Vegas! Woo hoo! And then we will party all day and all night long! With a little stop at the DMV so I can get a replacement driver's license. And hopefully a haircut at some point. Then we will come back here and it will be hard core study time for me, unfortunately. I'm probably crazy but I am going to try to take Accounting 200 in about a week and a half. All of the tests are in the testing center starting the first day of class and all of the assignments are just up on blackboard. What is the reason why I am doing this you may ask? Because I am also taking English 316 over independent study over the summer and if I take one on-campus class during spring I will save/make $2000 from government grant money. But anyways, then we will be moving out and going on the best road trip ever all the way to Minnesota! It will be such a fun adventure of a trip. Then I will start my internship! And we will continue to party. Then after the internship we will come back and hopefully have an apartment somewhere to move into. Then... the best of all... our cruise! Our cruise will be soooo great. And then back to school again. Anyway that is a summary of what my life will be looking like for the next few months. Doesn't it sound fun? It does to me. I think it will be so great. I have such a great life. The End.

Apartments

So... we have no idea where we will be living this fall. I know it's a bit away but it still sometimes worries me just because once we leave we will have no way of going and looking at apartments to see what we like. We would be fine with moving back into the apartments we live in now, but we have heard from friends that it can be pretty tough trying to get an apartment here for August since that's when everyone wants to move in. And, unfortunately, that's probably the case with anywhere we go. So, who knows, maybe we will just be homeless. Or we will just find whatever. If anyone knows of any good places, you should let me know. Although I don't really think many people even read my blog, so I should probably post on facebook. That would be more likely to have success I'm sure.

People are Interesting

I think people are really interesting to watch and observe. Lately I've been feeling that a lot of people aren't very much like me. But that also makes me really excited when I find someone that is and that I relate to really well. But most people have very different philosophies about life than me. A lot of it I can't explain, it's just that they act differently than I expect them to. Everyone's priorities are very different. Also I've found that it's really hard to keep my priorities the way I want them to be when everyone around me has different priorities. I definitely have to be actively trying to remember what's important to me. And not everyone around me has different priorities... just I feel like a lot of people do. But anyway sorry this is all so vague... basically I just think people are interesting to see and interact with.

Oh brother Ken...

Today I told Ken that tickling my feet was not acceptable or allowed in our household. He proceeded to try to convince me that it was, in fact, my foot that was tickling his hands. He said, and I quote, "your foot is viciously attacking the ticklish parts of my fingers!"

More About Ken

Ken is the greatest. For reals. Like no one else can fully comprehend how great he is. Last night his basketball team lost and got out of the tournament but instead of being upset about it he was only thinking of me. Before the game we went to the temple and ate in their cafeteria for dinner. I got some kind of chicken parmigian type dish but after I got it I discovered that it had mushrooms on it, which I am allergic to. However, usually I am fine if I just avoid the actual mushrooms, so I did that. But I guess the sauce had too much mushroom in it for my body because I started feeling super sick at the basketball game. But after the game Ken could tell I wasn't feeling well so he was super nice and took me home and took really good care of me. He pulled the bed out into the living room so that I could watch a movie while laying down. He was just so thoughtful the whole night. Also, I am always amazed at how well we get along and how well we understand each other and how well our personalities complement each other. Everytime I hang out with other people and then hang out with Ken I notice that. Like I get along great with a lot of other people, but no one nearly so well as Ken. He always understands my thoughts and perspective even when everyone else thinks I'm wrong or doesn't understand me. Also he is the most fun of all people in the world. I love how crazy and weird he is sometimes. I'm sorry if this post is so cliche or cheesy but oh well. I love Ken so much and he is the best friend I could ever ask for.