Freezing Rain

Sunday night, Shani, Brian, and I went to our friend Jessica's house in Spanish fork for a sleepover! It was great. We all stayed up til wee hours of the morning watching Pitch Perfect and playing games.

 Umm Brian's face...don't ask. I really just don't know.

In the morning, we ate breakfast and went sledding!

When  I asked a kid to take our picture, he got snow all over the lense...so that should explain the super blurriness.
It was a great sledding place though, take a look for yourself!

So many hills. It was insane.

 Later Monday night, I was a bad mom and canceled FHE because all of us girls were going to Spencer's house for his birthday party! Worth it.

Holy sunset! This picture is great. It's reflected, but imagine it by itself...it was an amazing sunset up in the woods!
Spencer blew out all three cakes of candles...

I was amazed. It took every ounce of self control I had not to eat some of that homemade cake. 5 more days without sugar...I can do this!!

Tuesday after work, some roommies and coworkers of mine went to grab some food at JCW's

 Here you can see Mallory sporting our lovely turquoise collared shirts. Best uniform ever. Except not really, because I hate them. We get t-shirts soon though!

Wednesday night was acoustic night, and Genevieve was one of the five artists to perform! She was amazing.

I've already posted a video of her singing this, but this time she's on stage!

Then these guys call themselves the "ginger colony," even though only one of the two members is a ginger. They were hilarious though, seriously. And amazingly musical. It was quite the show.
This is my favorite song they performed.

They also busted out some new forms of music, like this one, which they call 'Whisper-o,' like scream-o, but whispering...

And this little sample of music is 'monkey rapping,' which they actually do well at! Sound exactly like monkeys rapping. It's kind of strange.

Thursday morning I woke up nice and early to go volunteer at the MTC. I walked outside only to discover that everything was covered in the slipperiest ice imaginable. I've never experienced something like it! Walking was a joke--you just had to slide or shuffle your feet very carefully. It was fun to just laugh with people who were struggling right along with you. Made everyone on campus very friendly!

Well getting up the hill to the MTC was no easy feat. I kept sliding backwards, and ended up being 10 minutes late. I LOVE volunteering there though, its incredible.

Videos of BYU students were all over facebook. Here's my favorite...

This one still makes me laugh.

When I got back from work, my roommates informed me that Genevieve had spent the night at the E.R! Apparently, she got a bad concussion playing soccer, barely made it home, couldn't breath, passed out, and yada yada. A firetruck, ambulance, and plenty of friends came to her aid....and I slept through all of it. I thought that they were punking me, but no. It all happened, as I slept soundly in my room right in the middle of all the action. Luckily she's doing alright now!

Thursday night I had work, and a guy asked for my number. Such an awkward situation, how do you say no? Well he texted me 3 times within ten minutes of me getting off work, and called me, without me ever responding! I hate situations like that. Being nice to someone somehow translates into getting a stalker.

Friday was great! After much anticipation, I finally got to show off to my boss that I can write cool! He commissioned me to write our menu on the chalkboard. Little did he know, he'd be getting this:

Cool, right?? I spent forever on it, and everyone was impressed. Success! After that, he had me write on 4 other boards.
We had a band come perform and work was CRAZY busy! Finally though, I've been waiting for The Wall to get the attention it deserves. We had hundreds of people come.

Picture doesn't do it justice, but it was packed.

We're adding this bad boy to the menu soon. "The Wall of Waffles." A tower of waffles, layered with creamery ice cream. Sounds like heaven! Come February 1st, I will have one of these.
My mom came and visited me at work! I saw her before she saw me, so I ran at her full speed and tackle/hugged her. I think it took a year off her life, she was so scared. Goal accomplished. (:

After work, talked to Corbie for 2 hours on the phone. Loved every second.

Saturday morning this girl came to visit!

She's in Utah for a short time, and I plan to get every second I can with her. We went to Taylor and Dan's dorm and they made us crepes! It was amazing.

The rest of Saturday was spent doing homework, and working from 9-midnight. Work was busy again! I love it!
I saw a girl get her tooth knocked out though...that was interesting! Walking back from taking the trash out, I turned a corner and saw a girl whose arms were tied down with rope, and a group of kids filming. They said, "Ready, go!" and she started hopping down the hallway. A few hops in, her feet slid out and she face planted into some lockers, then onto the floor. She couldn't stop herself because her arms were tied down! It was the weirdest thing. Felt so bad for her! Still can't believe I randomly witnessed that. On the bright side, they got it all on film! It'll go viral, just you wait.

Today's been wonderful. Church is great. This week's a wrap! 92 days until Florida!!

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

It's been a good week, guys.
Kicked off Monday with more classes and family night! We joined forces with another FHE group, and played a bunch of games--mainly catchphrase, which will always remind me of the many times playing that with my Grandma Williams.

Here's a blurry panoramic picture of most all of us.

This picture is an oldie, but it's re-vamped with my new photo editing app. I miss the fall! It's sad how used to the cold I am though--the other day walking around, I was thinking it was pretty warm...turns out it was 15 degrees. Strange!

I started work at "The Wall!" Boy oh boy. I'm obsessed with this place. Working there is incredible! I love the people, the fun atmosphere, its super easy especially compared to Iceberg, and it's just great.

 Karaoke/performing/stand-up-comedy/whatever-you-want stage!

 We have chalk walls everywhere, which I adore writing on. It's a dream come true.

 The bar, and my lovely coworkers.

A broader view of the place. The pillars are all chalkboard too, as you can see on the right. 

But wait, there's more! There are 9 TV's, a fireplace, tons of couches and tables set up in little nooks, and 2 tables that are getting giant touch screen tops to play games on. It's just the coolest place, I'm tellin ya. 

So there's my advertising for The Wall. I'm a big advocate. Tuesday was my first day! It went off without a hitch. Probably the best first-day of work I've ever had. I count my lucky stars each day that I got this job!

Wednesday was an incredible day, for reasons that will be left unknown here. Writing about it won't do the experience justice. So I'll leave you with a little mystery! Ask me about it, and I'll tell you. Just had to make a note of the amazingness of this day so the future me will remember when it happened...if that makes sense. (:

I will tell you that I made some pretty incredible sugar-free banana bread. Mmm

Thursday I got to go sledding with Tanner and the darling Mia. It was at Jolley Ranch, where you have to pay a few bucks, but it's totally worth it!

 My favorite picture.^^

Caught him hugging her. Cutest!

Okay, maybe I lied. This is my favorite picture. Climbed a huge snowbank! The scenery was incredible. Am I right??

Enjoy some videos. Sorry about my squealing, I can't help it.

At the end of the hill, there's a sharp incline to stop you, but we were trying SO hard to get over the hill! Tanner made it pretty close in this one:

Friday I worked from 9 pm to 1 am. It was fun though because we were having karaoke night! My wonderful friends came by, sang, and hung out for an hour or two. Didn't even feel like work, it was so fun! 

Saturday morning me, Shani, and Genevieve went over to our friend's dorm for breakfast. 

Gen knows how to hit. She got Riley good!

I had a work meeting at 1 (which I got paid for, bonus!), followed by actually work from 3-6. It was a great shift! Had 2 guys who stayed for about 2 and a half hours, and just talked the whole time with me. They also made this video, referring to the phrase "hit a wall," which is how our place got it's name. Ya know when you hit a will with homework or whatever? Yeah...kind of makes sense right? Anyways, >>here's the video<< It's worth a watch! They were funny.

The other half an hour a different guy was in there, telling me his life story at the bar. I really feel like a bar tender! My darling FHE brothers came in to visit too. I'm so blessed! I feel bad even calling my job work, because so far it's been a breeze. Sorry I'm obsessed with my job, if you couldn't tell by now, but I'll stop talking about it!

Saturday night a group of us went to the BYU basketball game

The amazing win against San Diego was followed up by a group game sesh at my dorm. We were laughing our heads off, playing all of these writing and drawing games. I quite enjoyed it.

Here's a little glimpse of one game we played, it might not make much sense to you, but here ya go!

The gang! Genevieve's leg totally looks like it's my leg. Gets me every time.

Blurry, but I like.

Saturday night me and Genevieve wanted to sleep in the same bed. Strange? Maybe. Fun? Yes. The things we do...

Genevieve and Taylor are at it again with their musical gifts, but this time another partner in crime has joined them: Brian! He's super great too. I love basking in their talent. Sorry this video is cut short! My phone ran out of memory...it's time to delete some things. I have major photo-hoarding problems...

This Sunday has been lovely. Church is incredible. Life is great. Work is amazing. What more can I say. Successful week!

Back to School, Round 2

So I decide I love scanography. Basically you just stick your face on a scanner, and viola! Some are kind of creepy. But I still love it.

Aside from leaving face smudges on my printer, second semester has started!! And with it, a whole new set of classes and a whole lot of homework. It always takes a while to get the new schedule under control. Right now I just feel frantic and am constantly checking my syllabi to make sure nothing is due that I'm unaware of.

I'm happy to report that I like my classes so far! As much as possible, at least. Statistics and American Heritage may be the death of me, but they've gotta happen sometime, and there's no time like the present! My other three classes are: Book of Mormon, Preparation for Marriage, and Intro to School of Family Life.

Now before you laugh because I'm taking Marriage Prep, just realize that I am not looking to get married just yet, but it's part of my major! I got enough judgmental looks on the first day when they asked a raise of hands for who were freshman and I was the only one in about 50. This was one of multiple downsides or embarrassing moments so far this week: 

• In statistics, I blew a bubble with my gum, but it went flying out of my mouth and landed in my lap--with plenty of witnesses. 
• I managed to almost face-plant in the middle of a busy campus because I tripped, big time. 
• One of my teachers is making us read our 531 page textbook in 2 weeks. Luckily, it's the Book of Mormon, and it's for my Book of Mormon class...but that only makes it a tinsy bit better.

So basically, a majority of my week has looked like this:

 These two are in my Book of Mormon class, so we read together a lot of the time for hours on end.

 Speaking of Shani and Brian, they're the greatest. So happy Brian came from BYU Hawaii, even though he's having a bit of weather whiplash.

Friday night was spent watching the TV show Raising Hope. It is the best ever. All four of us were just lazy bums and sat around all day watching it, and have at least 11 episodes down. Kind of sad? Maybe. We did get out a bit to go get ice-cream. I sure didn't get any though because of my no-sugar craze, but I went along for the ride.

Gotta go back in time for a second--
Remember a while back I applied for a job at the bowling alley? Yeah...that didn't happen. And I was pretty upset, because I honestly thought I nailed that interview.
Well, last week they called me and said they really liked me, and a new place was opening up next to them with the same manager, so they gave him my resume and just wanted to make sure that I wanted to apply. Heck yes I did.
Long story short, had an interview on Tuesday which went even better than the bowling interview. Also, they told me the only reason they didn't hire me at the Bowling Alley was because they couldn't work around my schedule, so that made me feel better.
On Saturday morning, they called and hired me!! That's right, NEW JOB.

He's supportive and great. (And so right (; )
I'm glad that the bowling job didn't work out, because this is such an upgrade! It's the coolest place on campus, literally. It's called 'The Wall,' and it's just a hang out place basically! It's got a full on bar (for mock-tails of course), couches everywhere, a full stage where bands come perform, and lots of TVs and cool lighting. It's brand new, with it's opening night on Friday. Best place ever. I'M STOKED. What I'm most excited about is that I can finally escape the job I have now! I'm not a fan of it.
Bar tending, here I come!!! (:

Saturday was also this lovely ladies birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEAN. She's the best roommate in the whole world, so glad I got matched up with her.

 She spent a total of 10 hours skyping her boyfriend that day. TEN, PEOPLE. And yes, over winter break she got a boyfriend. I got food. Fair enough.

We've been getting lots of snow, and huge snowflakes! Winter semester is proving to be a lot colder and snowy-er than the last one.

And I definitely can't skip over how Jean shoved her face in a cake. That was great!

Next, we basically all hung out in our kitchen and tried to sound good with 6 voices (all trying to harmonize differently), 3 Ukuleles, and one guitar.

We spent a solid few hours doing this. Though I'm not half as musically talented as them, or probably even a third, it was still way fun.
We headed to a dance at the Wilk at 8, and came back around 10. Yes, we did finish the whole first season (22 episodes...) of Raising Hope. Now I can finally start doing homework again. Those 86 pages of Book of Mormon that I'm behind on won't read themselves!

 Sunday morning we had a waffle party for Jean's birthday! Had our great FHE boys come over, and I got to break in my new waffle iron from Christmas. Success!

With Shani and Brian together again, and Jean always skyping with Heber, I definitely feel the absence of a special someone. So Sarah drew me a nice boyfriend during church (see the bottom right section).

Side note--church isn't always the easiest to go to. Especially with so much else I could be doing. Some weeks are harder than others to get myself there, but I've noticed that after church I am always SO grateful I went, and come away feeling a lot better (such was the case today).

Well, back to my homework now. I've got 107 pages of reading awaiting me, a short essay, and quiz. It'll be a fun night!!

Last Week of Freedom

Ta-dah!! Just a Dash of Tessa got a serious makeover. It was ten times harder than I thought it would be, but after many 'blogging for dummies' type of articles and videos, I figured out how to download a new layout and customize it. I'm very proud. (:
Well a new year has begun, and 2012 will be missed. For New Year's Eve, Challie, Megan and I had planned to go to Megan's apartment in Orem and have some other people over as well for a little get together. Well, we got to her place, and realized that her roommate was there and having a party of her own. So we relocated to my dorm! It was really fun to go back, but strange to have no one on campus or in the building.

Last moments of 2012.

Happy New Year!!

January marks the start of a crazy thing I'm trying, inspired by my roommate Jean! No sugar for the whole month. Of course, just processed sugars, not the natural sugar found in food. So if sugar is on the ingredient list, or fructose or whatever, I can't have it. Boy has it been hard! But I've gone almost a week now, so I'm a fourth of the way done. If Jean did it, so can I! Wish me luck, and please don't tempt me with sugary foods. (:

Wednesday me and Challie hung out, and it was an eventful night! 

(side note: like how we look the same with our glasses, brown hair, and bangs?)

First we visited our previous place of employment, Iceberg!! I like visiting there way too much. Next, we headed to Scheels. It was my first time there, and I felt like a little kid at a candy store, ooo-ing and ahh-ing at everything. I had free tokens for the ferris wheel, so you better believe we rode that thing and enjoyed it more than half the kids on it. 

One funny story, while at the very top of the ferris wheel, I took Challie's phone to take a picture of us because I left mine at the bottom. I stuck my arm out and held her phone over the edge of the ferris wheel, not even thinking about it. Of course, this gave her a little heart attack! With my bad record for breaking phones, she had every right to be nervous! Luckily her phone did not fall, and she is a good friend and didn't even get mad.

Our next stop for the night was the good old dollar theater, where we saw Perks of Being a Wallflower. Such a different movie, but we both loved it. One of those movies that just makes you think.

Then on a whim, we went sledding! 11 at night and about 10 degrees outside. We went to my old school, Lone Peak Elementary, where there are signs everywhere saying 'no sledding.' We're such rebels. (; It was incredible though, we were seriously flying down the hill, across the field, and almost ran into the railing every single time.

Finally our night ended at her house buried in blankets, drinking hot chocolate (sugar-free for me of course), and watching another movie, one we got from Redbox called 10 years. I do NOT recommend it, even though Channing Tatum is quite the eye candy.

I've gotten some new photo apps recently, which I've been toying around with non stop. I love 'em! The possibilities are endless. Here are some samples:

IT'S SO FUN. A lot of these take quite a few different apps to get to the finished product, but its so worth it. 

On Friday, Megan, Challie, and I hung out. We didn't have any ideas of what to do, so we kind of just drove around, hung out, and talked. We made a stop to the gorgeous Draper park with it's amazing tree-light display.

Love these girls, and so happy we got to hang out lots over break.

Saturday I made a trip to Provo to drop off some things at my dorm and go grocery shopping. I must say, my mother's sale shopping has rub off on me. I live for sales, and it makes me happy to see basically every single thing I buy is on sale! Score.

I just had to share >>this article<< that my mom recommended, it is incredible, and something that I really want to apply in my life. Worth the read, I promise!!

Now the time has come for second semester. I sit in my dorm writing this, wondering where the 3 weeks off went! I don't feel nearly prepared enough at all for class to start tomorrow, but ready or not, here it comes! Back into the routine of early mornings, work, school, and homework. Let's do this.