Hoppy Easter!

Lots to write about, and no time. It's a dilemma. It's just going to be short and sweet today (hopefully...), this girl's gotta go to bed!

First things first, I've never written a missionary really. I've been writing Elder Hanson though, and it's seriously so fun! I just love getting mail. Even though they changed the rule so missionaries can email, I'm making him write letters, it's so much better. 

Woke up to the sweetest note I've ever gotten on the desk next to my bed. Jean is the BEST roommate I could've possibly been matched up with, I'm so lucky. Seriously.

Weekly lunch with Kaitlyn is always fun.

On Thursday, I went to my lovely cousin Alaina's house to interview her and her hubby for a marriage prep paper I'm writing. It was so fun to be with her, and of course, talk about my favorite subject! I could talk about relationships for ever. 

Saturday I went downtown to have lunch with my good friend Danny. We shopped around, ate, and just caught up. SO much fun.

I went shopping with my mom as well to TJ Max, and found the most awesome red suitcase ever, and perfect for my mission! I never thought I'd be so excited about a suitcase.
When she took me to the train, we had some issues and I missed the train. Long story short, we ended up leaving my brand new suitcase at the station on accident! After driving away I realized our mistake and we sped back to find it there waiting for us. Big relief!

 Another stats test to study for! I'm soo lucky to have Alise in my class. We have our study sessions, and she keeps me on track and working hard, even though this whole week I've felt like this:

Love her.

On Sunday, Lacey cracked me up in Relief Society when, in her lesson about the Atonement, she made the comparison of His pain to "stepping on a Lego, or stubbing your toe...times 50!" She always makes me laugh.

 My mom made me a bunny garland of my own!! Now hanging proudly in our kitchen. I love it (:
She came over for dinner Sunday night, and I cooked us up probably the best crockpot meal I've ever made.

 Monday's FHE: Egg dying

My camera decided to focus on the carton of eggs instead of my rainbow egg...but it was a good one.

 Maybe shouldn't share how many packages I got this week...it's over 5, I'll tell you that much.

 These babies came in one of them!

 See that?? Crazy!! It's even less now. 3 weeks left of school! How the heck did that happen?!

On Tuesday I officially worked out all the issues with my papers.

Then on Friday, heard this from my Bishop. Yayy!! No more delays with my papers, they are officially completed. Can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to say that! Fingers crossed I get assigned tomorrow, because then I'd get my call at the end of this week. 

 Tuesday night we had a ward Passover Seder. A Seder is just the Jewish feast they have for Passover. The boys all work Yamakas, and loved it! The lady who led the Seder tied in our LDS beliefs with the Jewish ones. It was very interesting!

 Here is the food we had, with a menu of the significance of each item. I had NO idea what horse radish tasted like, and Zach convinced me to take a big spoonful. I WAS CRYING. It was not my favorite, to say the least. So spicy!

On Wednesday my sweet mom and sisters came to help me attack Heritage Halls with 80's Night flyers. Can't even begin to tell you how many stairs we climbed.
A boy was sitting in his kitchen on the first floor right next to the window. I convinced Libby to go and tape a flyer right next to his face. It was so funny, still surprised she did it!

Thursday and Friday were spent working at the 80's booth we set up. My favorite was working with Jessy, she was so sneaky and would get people to come to our booth! She would sit against the hall and ask people if they could help her with something, then would basically drag them over to our booth, where I would spout off some facts about 80's Night.
Here's a short random little video.

Here's what the booth looked like. Complete with flyers, candy, and blasting 80's music. It was great making a fool out of myself in the middle of the Wilk dancing my heart out with my coworkers. My favorite were the people who came and joined us!

 Genevieve murdering a Peep.

Genevieve, her cousin, her cousin's roommates, and I all went to the 9:00 premier of The Host on Thursday night! What happened to midnight premiers? Who knows. But I'm fine going to bed at 12 instead of 3.
The Host was incredible! We all loved it. But that's coming from 8 girls who read the book. I need a guy who hasn't read the book to go see it. If you meet these qualifications, go do so and get back to me on what you think (:

 Friday, Tanner, Mia, and I got slurpees and went to a field to play around. She's the cutest girl.

This was randomly on campus--world's largest cardboard castle, just because we can.

Friday was my last midterm, for Stats! I was thrilled to get an 80%. That may seem low, but for this class, trust me--t's high! Soo happy our studying paid off.

 I may have gone to see The Host again on Friday night. I also may have snuck in Cinnabons into the theater and consumed way more calories than I should have. It was my reward for surviving another stressful week!

 Saturday morning Genevieve and her cousin Spencer took us to their hidden gem restaurant in downtown Provo. It's nickname is China Hell, so I don't really know if it's considered a gem. But you get a lot of Chinese food for really cheap, so basically it's a college kid's dream.

 Next door was a pet store, and Genevieve was fascinated with these fish that would follow her hand around!

Then, it was time for 80's night. I cut up an old neon Iceberg t-shirt to make leg warmers and a headband, finally had a justifiable reason to wear my shiny $2 H&M shirt, and headed to work.

Let's just say...80's night was not as big of a success as I hoped it would be. Everything went perfectly: the band was incredible, the DJ was set up right on time and had an amazing display of lights and music, and the decorations were great. But...hardly any one showed up. Why you ask? I still don't know. I worked my butt off advertising the death out of this thing. Between free coupons, giveaways, and our great entertainment--I'm quite perplexed as to the reason no one was there!

I was so beyond upset and bummed when it started seeming like the 40 people we had there was all it was going to be. I'm just grateful that my amazing friends came and kept me from breaking into tears. It was rough. On a plus side, the night got better, I got over that fact that it was pretty empty, and we all danced and had fun. 

These guys were hilarious dancing, but I only caught a little glimpse of them:

It's still hard for me to talk about it, because it makes me feel like such a failure! But in all honesty, I have no regrets. I know I did everything and more in my power to make it a success, and for some reason unknown to me, it just wasn't. Oh well!

Here's one of the things I had decorated--our Cosmo bench! Equipped with a checkerboard backdrop and Cosmo rocking some shades. I love my friends!

We went home and played murder in the dark in our basement. For the last round, me and Genevieve unlocked our storage cage and hid in it. They are pitch black, so no one could see us but we could see everything! Taylor got murdered in front of us, so he leaned against our cage. We went and screamed bloody murder right behind his head. I've never seen anyone so scared! We got a couple other victims as well. It was hilarious.

Sunday morning, I got picked up to go home for Easter! We stopped by to talk with my Grandma Williams as well, love that lady.

Church was great, dinner was even better, and my Easter basket was the best:

Our Easter bunny likes to mix holidays (:

Now I'm back at college. This week will be a breeze compared to my last 2, so I'm happy about that! Hope you all had a lovely Easter! Stay tuned, the next post I write could be about my mission call (:

Side note: This post definitely was not short and sweet. I don't know why I thought I could make such a post, I think that's impossible for me to do! Oh well, it's worth losing some sleep over, right? Goodnight!

Patience is a Virtue

So let's back it up to before I started that paper chain, before my papers were turned in, shall we? 

Monday night I went home for my mom's elaborately planned scavenger hunt FHE activity in Ikea. Me and Libby were paired up on a team, and we went around finding all the objects and taking pictures with them, like so:

 Then, we won! And yes, our team name was the spitting llamas.That was Lib's doing.

 As you can see by my mom giving herself bunny ears, she was in the bunny/easter spirit

 She made this adorable bunny garland

 And a grass-looking green wreath to match. So much cute DYI, I can hardly stand it.

Tuesday morning I got some little cavities filled. First time experiencing that, and no numb shots! Not my favorite experience, I'll tell you that much.

 In other news, my good friend Cam left on his mission for California. He'll be missed! It's been fun writing letters though and hearing about his MTC experience. He's doing great!

 Corbin used to be a gangster, in case you didn't know.

 Now he's...I don't even know what.

 Remember last September how Sarah's mom got her caramel apples? Well, it happened again.

 Are you drooling? Mmm so good. I love Sarah's mom. And I love Sarah for sharing. These get me through my hectic stressful life.

 While I'm talking about Sarah, here's this video. She was gracious enough to help me study for American Heritage. Want a refresher course on the Amendments? Your wish is my command!

 I regret to report that I officially bombed my first test though...American Heritage is literally the hardest thing, for me at least. History+politics=I'm doomed.

 Meet my work bestie, Melanie. She's a gem.

 After work one Thursday, Jean surprised us by announcing that her call had come, she had opened it, and she's going to (drum roll please...)

 ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO!!!
So excited for her. She's going to rock it.

 Since it was pie day (3.14) and we had reason to celebrate, we went to Sammy's for pie shakes, only to discover that the rest of Provo had this same idea.

It was packed, so we relocated to a less-busy Sonic nearby.

 On Friday, my little Parker Joe got his Driver's License!

 It's freaking me out. That, as well as the fact that he is not little. At all.

This is no random 80's poster, I promise. It happens to be all planned by yours truly! I have been working my tail off to get all the details planned out, and it's finally come together. I met with BYU's advertising team, and they came up with this poster which will be plastered everywhere. My only complaint is that I wish my talented mama could have done it, because let's be honest, she'd do 10 times better.

Funny story of the week:
On Sunday, while talking with Zach waiting to get into temple prep class, we both started talking at the same time. I was saying, "I love your pants," because they were pinstripe and awesome, but I cut off at, "I love your" when I heard he was talking. However, all he heard was, "I love you!" Haha it was so funny. "I love you!" "Whaaaat?"

On a whim Monday, I decided I had 2 hours to kill, so why not go to DI? I dragged Shani with me, and on the way to the bus stop, Jean was walking home so we kidnapped her, and off we went!
Being the Arizona natives they are, they had yet to visit a DI. I'm proud to say I introduced them.

Not only was it their first DI experience, but also bus ride! Converting my roommates to the poor-college-student lifestyle one step at a time.

We came back for a fun FHE playing soccer outside, then roasting Starbursts over the grill. We considered roasting them over an actual fire, but you've all seen how this FHE reacts to fire...things get a little out of control. Grill it was!

Did I mention half of them had never had roasted Starbursts before?? I mean come on. These people haven't lived.

Tuesday morning, I went to the temple at 11, thinking it would be slow because everyone has class then. I thought wrong. It was pretty busy! The best though was walking in, looking around, and seeing 3 of my coworkers there. All of us had come separately, but it felt like a little work party in the baptistry. Holla!

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART OF MY POST

Just thought I'd warn you, so you'd make sure to read. (:

I got word from my Bishop yesterday that instead of getting my call in two or three days like I had anticipated, there was a hiccup with my papers and it will probably be two to three weeks. Seriously?!

My heart was broken. At least that's what it felt like. I have been so desperately looking forward to my call, and felt like I was on the homestretch and it was within my grasp...but then no.

Snatched it away. Gone.

I was very sad. VERY SAD. A little mad. A pinch of anger. A dash of annoyance. 

It took me a couple hours to stop hating the world and to just accept that it was out of my control, and in the Lord's hands. He has His reasons. Sure I'm upset and impatient, but

it will all work out. 

I will get my call, and when I do, I'll just appreciate it that much more.

So forget the chain countdown picture from last time, it's taken down. Who knows when I'll get my call? All I know is it'll be OK.

Moral of the story: DON'T PRAY FOR PATIENCE.

Because you could get a major test of patience like I am right about now. 

 Can't wait to be a Sister Missionary! The day will come, and it will be glorious. (:

Did I mention I'm way pumped to wear church clothes for a year and a half?! Not even being sarcastic--I hate pants and LOVE dressing up. One of the many perks of a mission (:

PAPERS ARE IN, GUYS.

You could say I'm excited.

Just praying the next 14 days will go by fast, and that I'll figure out how to concentrate on homework until then. Wish me luck.

Hardly Have Time to Eat.

I've made a horrible mistake.
I've let three whole weeks go by without posting, whaaat? It's bad news.

If you notice the title, it's that for a reason. These past three weeks have been completely full, leaving blogging at the end of a very, very long list of things to do.
But now I sit here, having 5 whole hours of free time, which is unheard of! What better time to strain to remember the past three-ish weeks and write it down than now! Here we go.

I pulled my first all-nighter! Well, basically. I fell asleep at 6 am for about 3 hours. My American Heritage essay was killer. Starting it the day before it's due wasn't the best idea I've had. I got it in though, no worries, and my score is one I am very pleased with! My 4 am ramblings actually managed to make a good essay. Who would've thought.

From my mom. ^^

Went on a Target trip with Sarah. You would think after seeing the over-stuffed trunk of groceries that it would be all 6 roommates. But no, just us 2. Needless to say, we have been eating well lately!

Sunny sun. Nice to have it out and warming things up!

It was my darling little sister Libby's 13th birthday. She desperately wanted a bunny, but instead, my mom stuck bunny ears on Boozer. Doesn't he look thrilled? This picture cracks me up.

I recently realized just how much food storage I actually have. I don't even know how this happened, but I literally have 3 bins chock full of non-perishables underneath my bed! I know this sounds weird...but there's just no where else to put it all. I keep the bins sealed up so it's pretty sanitary, don't worry.
My roommates tease me about it though. Just to name a few: "We know who's surviving the zombie apocalypse!" "You just keep the commandments (food storage) without even trying to!! You're THAT righteous." "I'm going to start pilfering away some of your food every time I'm hungry. You won't even notice!"
They're probably right.

Just as a completely random side note: I set off the library detectors basically every time I walk through them, and it is the most frustrating thing in the world! I've never even checked something out. This alone has caused me to avoid going in the library. Silly, but true. It's embarrassing and annoying to have to stop, go through the detectors multiple times, and have everyone stare at you like you killed someone.

Genevieve misses church a lot because she goes with her cousins to their ward in American Fork. This recently became a problem because she needs her ecclesiastical endorsement for next year. So at church Sunday, she walks up to Bishop, puts her arm around him, and says, "Bishop, we need to talk. I don't go to church." It was so funny. I just love her.

My cute coworkers. See our new t-shirts?? SO HAPPY. And we can wear any pants with them, which means I've been breaking out all of my colorful/patterned skinnies. Hallelujah. My job is officially awesome.

Speaking of work, I got promoted!!! I'm assistant manager (: Basically what I'm over is working with the bands, scheduling events, advertising--stuff like that. I think my title is "Student Event Coordinator." At least that's what I've been telling people...I like the sound of it. I feel so blessed to be able to work with these amazing bands! The Provo music scene is incredible, and in a short two weeks, I feel like I'm already completely immersed in it. It definitely keeps me busy--probably the busiest I've ever been--but I wouldn't change a thing.

Just to prove it--here's the past two weeks from my planner. Literally every second of my day is planned, as well as to-do lists at the end of each day. It's craziness, people. I think I would lose my sanity without this planner though, it keeps me organized and helps me (for the most part) get everything done.

Us failing at pranking Brian.

On Tuesday, I did had a little hiccup with my schedule. I had work from 9:30 am to 11, class from 11-3, work meeting at 4:30, and work 6-9. On top of this, it was the last day to take my Marriage Prep test. I had a Statistics test to take as well, but planned to study more for it and take it the next day. You follow?
Ok. So at 3 I went to take my test. I sit down with my test in the testing center, and realized I grabbed THE WRONG TEST! That's right, I had my statistics one instead. Dumbest thing I've ever done. I had no other choice but to take it! So I took it, didn't do as well as I would've liked, went to my work meeting, ran back to the testing center to take my 96 question Marriage prep test in 20 minutes, and ran back to work. It. Was. Insane.

Next day, went to the BYU v. Gonzaga game with my parents!

It was an intense game.

This is my mom's texting face. Sorry to embarrass you mom, but I love it.

On Friday, Tanner, me, Mia, and her little brother Mason went to the park.
If you watch the videos, you'll see that I was seriously concerned about the playground. 

Video doesn't do it justice. It was high, it was dangerous, and I am completely justified in being scared of it, even though little 8 year old Mia wasn't...right?

 Eating creamery ice-cream. Love this girl.

 That night I went to The Wall for the first time not having to work! I got to sit with my friends, enjoy the performances, and it was fabulous.

Monday morning at work, I arrived early to cover for someone, and found Jessy sleeping on the couch. In all honesty, I'm surprised more people don't do that! The morning shift is dead slow.
Once she woke up, I found out she worked at the MTC cafeteria, so I made her diagram it on some paper towels for me, every little detail. Call me crazy, but helps me feel a lot more prepared knowing it all.

Saturday night we had a girl's employee bonding night! Me and Melanie walked over to Hannah's apartment together, and on the way made a detour into Baskin Robbins, which cracks me up because we were headed to a party where junk food would be, and we stopped on the way to get ice cream...so great. I love my coworkers!

We ended up going back to the wall to pick up some of the male-employees after they were done with their shifts. Defeats the purpose of 'girl's night,' but I'm not complaining. Our boys are great.

We went to Denny's...even more food!

On Sunday during Relief Society, my cute neighbor Lacey went to bare her testimony. She talked about how she lost her retainer and though she had prayed to find an answer, she hadn't gotten one, but it was a test of her faith, etc. Right when she sat down, about ten girls turned to her and said, "I know where your retainer is!!!" It was hilarious. She's like, "Oh my gosh!! My prayer just got answered!!"

Walkin' home from church, it was a tad rainy and we were all prepared. (:

Monday started the rush of Doctor and dentist appointments. First, I went to a clinic to get my shots and physical. They gave me two, and sent me to a different doctor to get my TB test. I went to that doctor, and they let me know that the previous 2 shots I had just gotten were ones I already had, and weren't necessary! I did need 3 other shots though. So I got a total of 5, and my arms have been dead ever since. As of today my right arm can finally be lifted more than 5 inches without killing! Yay!

That night, I went home and had a great FHE with my real family and a trip to Iceberg. It was a rough ride home though because I got on the wrong bus and ended up taking front runner to the Draper station. Turns out it's basically impossible to find, and it took my dad 30 minutes to find me.

Tuesday morning I had my dentist appointment, met with Myra again which I LOVE, then went back to Provo for class and work.

Wednesday, went to the doctor to get my TB test read, and then back to the clinic to finish my papers. Unfortunately, I found out I hadn't passed my urine test because I was dehydrated (sorry if that's TMI...). I was instructed to drink loads of water the next day and return for a re-test.

We threw a surprise party for Shani that night! She was completely shocked. We told her the party was Thursday, but we tricked her (: When she came home, she had been at the grocery store with Brian buying me my favorite sugary foods because I was having a stressful hard week!

I love this girl. She's the best.

We had an ice cream sunday  party.

 Happy birthday Shani!!!

That's right, a Winnie the Pooh gummy bear. I'm sad I didn't think of this sooner.

After the party, we all played 'murder in the dark' and 'scum' in the basement. It was a blast. 

Thursday I had my usual routine--class, lunch with Kaitlyn, and work. I don't think I've ever drunken so much water in my life.

It worked though, because on Friday after 4 early morning hours of work and 4 hours of class...

I went back to the clinic and passed the test! Woo! My papers are officially done. (:

Later Friday night, Corbin came down and we went to Velour for a concert.

We went to this concert to see the band Ahoy, Captain. We are filming a music video for them! And by we, I mean mostly Corbin. He's in the film program at the U, I'm in the music scene now, so I hooked him up with a deal to do a video for this band! I'm working with him to think of ideas and such. It's been fun to work together so far! I love it. The concert was great as well, and the band is amazing.

We also went to Corb's favorite, J-Dawgs.

This morning, Tanner and I went with Mia and her brother to get breakfast. It was great. Don't mind me wearing the same shirt...it's new and I'm obsessed with it. Therefore, I am outfit repeating. (Different color of pants, if that counts for anything.)

Breakfast burritos for champions.

 And Gumballs after, because why not.

On the way back, I spotted this awesome garage and made Tanner pull over and take a picture for me. (: Luckily, he's been with me enough to understand my obsession with pictures and didn't put up a fuss, and did as I asked.

I LOVE how it turned out. Worth the pit stop!

Sorry for this massive dump of stories and pictures. I'll try to regulate it more so it's not so overwhelming, for you and me both!
Tonight I'm going with Genevieve and Sarah to Costco, let's hope I can restrict myself to buying necessities. I also have work tonight, then am going home for a homecoming and farewell in the morning!
My second Bishop's interview is after all of that. If all goes as planned, I'll get my call in 2-3 weeks. AHH! I can not wait.

Here's my mission picture! Sister Bishop. I like the sound of that. (:
The end.