A New School Year, The Same Old Whitney.

Greetings from my new apartment in Cedar City. Which is thankfully much cheaper than my last place and while the room is much smaller the company is heaps better :) I think I'll start off with some photos and share some thoughts about my classes later. Be prepared for a post of epic proportions. Now, on to the photos!

My bedroom from the door. My bed is on the right, and the one of the left belongs to Kaitlynn.

Other view of the room, I think I'm in love with the beads :)

The bathroom. I do miss having the double sink. And a toilet that doesn't sound like an airplane taking off when you flush it. 

Here is our lovely living room full of mismatched furniture. Don't worry, it's not quite as small as it seems.

And the kitchen, which is by far much bigger than my las one, though sharing it with four other people can be a bit of a pain.

Thus ends the photo part of this blog post. So far it's been nice living here, though the wireless on our side of the lot isn't working and we only turn the AC on at night. I like living with people I know and actually get along with this time around. It's been a nice change, though I do miss having my own room. 

Rent is so much cheaper here than it was when I lived on campus, but it doesn't have the connivence of being right across the street from campus, and I have to pay electricity and utilities now. Thankfully I save enough from my job at the Assisted Living facility this summer that I don't think I'll be living off ramen this semester, though I did by some just in case. 

Curt came down with Kaitlynn and I to help us move in, though all we did when we arrived on Saturday was dump all our boxes up in our room and leave for St. George with Kaitlynn's parents. We stayed at her aunt and uncle's fitness spa for the night and spent some time swimming in the pool. It was a nice mini-mini- vacation to take before starting the semester. It was also great to spend some extra time with Curtis. Man I'm gonna miss that kid, even if we drive each other up the wall at times.

Classes have been going well so far. I have German 1010 MTWR every week at 10 am. I'm thanking my lucky stars that it isn't any earlier because when I signed up for classes this semester I didn't really pay attention to what time they started at. On MWF I have Chemistry at 1 pm and a lab at 3 on Mondays. I'm also taking an anatomy class online with the lab for that class being on Fridays at 10 am. Tuesday and Thursdays I only have German in the morning and that's going to be really nice, I love being done by 11. Though I will need that extra time to actually work on my anatomy class. 

I bought text books today, well more like rented them because it's a hell of a lot cheaper that way. My bank account didn't take that bad of a hit, though I still have to pay my rent for the semester. I have the check all made out but I just haven't had a chance to run it over to the apartment managers yet. It's on my to-do list for tomorrow. 

So far I really enjoy my classes, though I've only been to them once, with the exception of German. I think I may be the most excited for that class. The professor seems very eager to have us all succeed in learning the language, and isn't big on putting people on the spot. We practiced vowel sounds today, which is a little tricky because apparently in English we "glide" our vowel sounds while most languages don't. I'm glad English is a Germanic language because I think that's going to make learning German a little bit easier. We'll see if I continue to like it a few weeks from now, when we start getting into harder stuff ;)

I think that'll do it for this update. I'll try to update again soon, but no promises as my life isn't nearly as interesting as I seem to think it is. Ta-Ta for now dear reader!!

The First Days of Spring

As I sit here eating my 3rd to last packet of ramen, it occurs to me that I have a little more than 5 weeks left in the semester. WHAT?! Is my first year of college really almost over? I suppose it's a good sign that I haven't dropped out, starved to death, or gotten any regrettable tattoos or piercings. As the semester winds down, (which by the way is a very misleading term. If anything I get busier when the semester "winds down") I've been giving some thought with what I want to do this glorious summer. So I'll make a list here, for most of the world to see, and come back and check it the first day of Fall semester 2011 to see if I accomplished any of it.

1. Work enough hours to keep up my CNA license and save up so money so I'm not forced to live off ramen noodles all semester.

2. Avoid all ramen related foods. This also includes spaghetti noodles with butter and salt.

3. Pay off my housing for next semester.

4. Get back into going to church, scripture study, personal prayer etc.

5. Learn more French

6. Learn more quick and cheap dinner recipes.

7. Find a job in Cedar City before I move back for school.

I think that'll do for now. Perhaps I'll come back later and add some more, but I'm already wondering if I can do some of those things in just three months. But before I get too involved in summer plans, I should probably concentrate on all my final projects and final exams. This includes a mini-debate that may cause me to lose my lunch. I'm terrified of public speaking, especially anything in a debate type form. I'll never forget 5th grade, when I foolishly volunteered for a debate competition between Larsen Elementary and the other elementary schools of Nebo district. I spent weeks preparing with my debate partner, taking copious amounts of notes on all the research we did, so I would be 100% ready on debate day. My debate partner even had her father make us these cute little wooden boxes to store all our note card in. So debate day comes, and I'm so excited. This is what I had trained for, I was prepared to kick some 5th grade butt with my amazing arguments. My partner and I sit down and size up the competition, who were unfortunately very very good. They make their opening statement, and do so totally within the time limit, and sit down. It's my turn now, and my palms sweat, my stomach drops down to my toes, and I start getting little black floaties in my vision. I stand up, open my mouth, and nothing comes out. This is tragic, seeing as in a debate every second counts. When I've used up half my allotted time gaping like a fish I suddenly remember that I do indeed have control of my vocal cords, and my arguments come out in a lovely wave of word vomit. I don't remember much after that (I think I intentionally blocked it out), just that my team didn't win, the judges looked at me like they were trying not to laugh, and sitting in my mom's car after the whole debacle crying like the little girl loser I was. The only up side was that mom took me for ice cream afterwards. Way to celebrate my epic failure mom :)

I understand that I'm not that 5th grade girl anymore, and that I have done more in class presentations since then, but the thought of this debate coming up petrifies me. I'm hoping now that I'm an "adult" there will be less awkwardness and word vomit involved this time around, but with my luck that isn't likely.

The title of this post comes from a song from one of my new favorite bands, Noah and the Whale. I definitely recommend you check them out. They are the perfect mix of folk, pop, indie, angst, and just all around awesomeness.

More Whining About How Time is Flying By.

February is almost over and I haven't posted since November, which is pretty typical of me and my blogging habits. Christmas break was a lovely little vacation from responsibility, though come January I was more than ready to get back to school and my own room.

I feel like I need to post since I haven't in so long, but so far I'm finding nothing to say. My birthday was this month and being 19 is pretty much the same as 18, except I'm that much closer to my 20's. I suppose that is a little strange sounding. Pretty soon teen will no longer be part of my age, that'll be a novel experience. I just can't believe that almost 20 years have passed since my birth. It really doesn't feel like that long of a time for me, mainly because I've been living my life just like everyone else. Oh man, 20 years from now I'll have kids of my own, heaven help us all when I start procreating. Not to fear though, a husband and babies are far in the future for me. School is going to dominate my life for the next 6-8 years, and I refuse to have a baby till I'm the proud recipient of a Masters Degree in Nursing. Thankfully my dad isn't eager for grandkids at the moment, which is great seeing as his oldest kid is only 19 and his youngest 17.

Speaking of Curt (in a very roundabout way) now that it's 2011 my baby brother is going to be 18 in October and this time next year he'll be getting ready to graduate high school. I can't believe he's old enough, I feel like I was just barely graduating high school now I'm almost finished with my freshman year of college and preparing for my sophomore year. Time seems to be going by faster the older I get, I'm not so sure how I feel about that.

Exactly a month to the day since I last posted. Halloween was great, especially since I got to go home and spend it with the family :) Now I just have to wait till Thanksgiving, which really isn't that far away.

It's that time of year again. Registering for Spring classes. I have no idea why but ever since high school, I've dreaded registering for classes. It's always a pain trying to put everything in the right schedule, then you have to worry about actually getting a spot in the class! My registration date is on Nov. 4th and as a newish Freshmen who hasn't ever registered for classes by herself, the task seems daunting. It really doesn't help that both of the advisers for the College of Science recently resigned and that they won't have new ones trained till the end of November. I have till January 10th to register, but again I would like to actually have a choice in the classes I take next semester.

I'm starting to feel the stress pick up again. It seems like every time I finish a test, there is another one just around the corner. It really doesn't help that all my professors seem schedule their tests in the same week. I'm still convinced it's some kind of conspiracy theory. I've been studying and keeping up on the work, but as the testes get closer I go into panic mode and convince myself that I know nothing and will never be able to pass. Here's to hoping I'm wrong.

What have I been doing to de-stress? Watching Dexter as much as possible. There's just something great about that show. Michael C. Hall does a fabulous job with the Dexter character. He's so creepy and lovable at the same time :) In other TV news, Doctor Who comes back December 25th and let's just say that ecstatic would be an understatement for how I feel. I only just started watching the show this summer, so I think I'm always going to be partial to the 11th doctor. I have watched season 1 and most of 2 and 3 of the newer ones, and none of the classics. I'm hooked though and I can't wait for December.

My life is pretty boring when I actually write it all down.......... Hopefully something intersting comes up in the near future.

Holiday Season is HERE!!!!

Ah, October is finally here! It's never officially fall until October rolls around. I used to get so excited about it as a little kid, mostly because Halloween was coming. Waiting till the end of the month seemed to take forever though. Now a days it flies by. The end of October is when my personal holiday season starts.

The first big event is Curt's birthday on the 27th, and birthdays are always fun even when they aren't your own. I can't believe he'll be 17 this year. Sometimes I forget he's really not that much younger than I am. I feel bad that I won't be there for him on his actually birthday. It's in the middle of the week but I am coming up north the weekend before his birthday, so he and I will do something to celebrate.

Four days later, it'll be Halloween! My family celebrated Halloween when I was younger, and I loved getting a new costume and going around my neighborhood trick-or-treating. On thing I hated as a little kid was having to wear a coat over my costume. I remember one year I was Meg from the Disney movie Hercules. I adored the costume because it was shiny and pink and just plain cute. When it was time to get ready, my mom did my hair and put some make up on me (another reason why I loved Halloween so much) and I went to go put my costume on. Now for those of you who don't remember what Meg's outfit looked like, here is a photo.

As you can see, no sleeves. Which really wasn't a problem for 7 year old me, but my mother really didn't think it was a good idea to send me out trick-or-treating like this on a cold, October, Utah night. She hands me a sweatshirt and tells me I have to wear it under the dress, and I also have to wear tights and my tennis shoes. Now, 7 year old me had a problem with this, actually several.

1. Meg doesn't wear a sweater under her dress. And I'm all about authenticity.
2. The sweater was white, and had a photo of a bunch of girls in a convertible on it. So it totally didn't match.
3. Meg always wore sandals. Cute, little gold sandals.
4. I HATED tights. With a passion exceeded by none. They were the bane of my existence and I was convinced that they were something I put up with for Sundays only. And even that took a lot of convincing from my mother.

I remember giving my mother all these arguments, thinking they were brilliant and she would have to see reason. I finished with a very snotty, "See, Meg doesn't wear any of these. Just the dress." To which my mother replied. "She didn't live in Utah"

She was totally right, and I just gave up. There may have been threats of no trick-or-treating if I didn't get my act together. As if the heavens wanted me to know that mom knew what she was talking about, it started snowing about an hour or so into trick-or-treating:). Looking back, I'm grateful that I had a mom who cared enough to make sure I would stay as warm and as comfortable as possible.

After Halloween I've got Thanksgiving and Christmas, which are always eventful and sometimes a little stressful. I always look forward to them, especially this year, as it'll be a chance to spend some time with my family. Then once Christmas is over, there is New Years and my dad's birthday! That takes care of January, which brings us to February, which means my birthday!!!

And that ends my holiday season, and I get the rest of the year to gear up, and get excited for next years.

A very random, all over the place post.

I'm so ready for a break! Is it Thanksgiving yet? I'm actually doing okay, but I miss my family and it feels like its been forever since I've seen them. Or talked to them for that matter. Maybe I just need to get used to not being in constant communication with my family like I used to be. It's hard getting used to though.

I've been putting in job applications everywhere they hire CNAs, with no luck so far. If that doesn't work out, I'm going to have to join the hordes of other students looking for entry level, minimum wage jobs. CNAs don't make amazing amounts of money, but it's more than minimum wage, and they usually like need people who can work afternoons and nights just as much as people who can work mornings. I hoping and praying that something comes along soon, because I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't.

Classes are going well, but I think I'm having a hard time getting motivated to go. I think it's because we're almost to the middle of the semester and things have become a little more routine. I'm not looking forward to finals though, December really isn't as far away as I think it is. It'll be October on Friday!!!!!! I'm going home in October the weekend before Curt's bday, though sadly since his birthday is in the middle of the week I can't be there on the actual day. I can't believe he's going to be 17. I also can't believe he's a junior in high school. I really can't believe that I'll be going to his high school graduation within the next two years, I just barely graduate. That's the way it's always been with Curtis and I though. We're so close in age that whatever big, growing up, life changing event I go through, he's usually not far behind. I wonder how my dad will like it when we're both out of the house. Seems weird to think that he once Curt is gone, there aren't any more kids to hang around.

And if Curt gets older, then that means I definitely get older. It's going to be so weird turning 19 in February, that just seems old to me for some reason. It's also weird hearing guys I went to high school with talk about their mission papers, and mission farewells. It just doesn't seem like we're really old enough yet to be thinking about those kinds of things. I dunno, time just seems to be whizzing by.

Be warned, this post is known to be epically long and possibly too wordy.

This is a blog I started on Friday September 3, but never got to finish before I had to leave. I'll post it here for you now.

Friday September 3, 2010

I cannot tell you how excited I am to be going home. I've been missing my family like crazy and the closer it gets to being time to go, the slower the time seems to pass. I thought I would share that with you all. 

Classes were good today. I'm always surprised at how fast music goes by, I love learning about the pop culture of different times. A few girls sitting behind me in class today kept complaining about how boring they found the class and how the time seemed to drag on. I think they may be slightly unhinged, but I think having a background in music makes it more enjoyable for me. I tend to recognize more of the composers from the early 19th and 20th century and I'm usually familiar with their music, because I've either played it in the past or because we've talked about it in band class. I really miss band a lot more than I thought I would. I see the kids walking around campus with their musical instruments and I feel a little envious. It's strange to me because I used to belong to that group of kids, but here in college I don't have that association anymore.

 If I were any good I would at least try out for one of their ensembles but I don't have the skill for that, which is totally my fault but it still doesn't stop me from want that again. I know I used to complain about being in band back in high school, and even stopped playing for a time, but I think in the past year or so I really came to appreciate it. The beginning of my senior year of high school I didn't take it because I wanted to have the free class period at the end of the day, but two or three weeks in and I was asking the band director if I could transfer into the class. Ah well, at the very least I'll always have fond memories of band. I think it's something I want my kids to at least try. They don't have to fall in love with it, or be fabulous at it, and if they really don't like it they can drop it, but I really want to at least expose them to it. 

I've been packing my things up for the long weekend, and I have to say it's a little strange to be packing for "home." I guess I need to start thinking of Cedar City as my home now, and with enough time I'm sure I will, but as of right now it still feels like I'm coming home from a trip not going on one. I keep forgetting that I need to pack everything I need to get ready in the mornings or whatever because they aren't there at my house anymore. I wonder what it will be like when I get home. I'm excited to be leaving soon though, I really do miss my family.

I'm also waiting for my room mate agreement meeting to start. My room mate, Emilia, and I have to sit down with our Resident Advisor, Vanessa, and sort of draw up a contract that we both agree to abide by. It's supposed to cover things like food distribution, over night guests, cleaning schedules, things of that nature. It's supposed to take like an hour, which I find a little hard to believe but we'll see. I really like my R.A. or at least the little I've seen of her. She lives in a different building entirely and is over her building, Ponderosa, and my building, Hillside. She seems very nice and easy to talk to. I feel bad though, because Emilia and I were supposed to have our room mate agreement meeting on the very first Monday school started but we were both at Wal-Mart when the meeting was scheduled. Here it is over two weeks later and we've just barely signed up for today's time. Ah well, she's been very good natured about it and even got our electricity fixed. 

I forgot I hadn't mentioned this to anyone really. The electricity on our back kitchen wall went out the very first Sunday we were here. Now this wouldn't be too horrible of a problem, if that wall didn't contain the outlet for the microwave and the window fan. This apartment doesn't have any kind of air conditioning, so everyone relies on window and floor fans. When the electricity went out on that wall, the fan in the kitchen window could no longer take the hot air out. It got unbearably hot, to say the least. 

When something breaks or stops working in the apartment, you're supposed to put in a maintenance report online and University housing will send someone out to look at it. Emilia and I put the request in that Sunday and Vanessa had told us that it usually took 3-4 days for them to respond, unless it was something extremely serious. I thought not having electricity in part of my house was pretty serious, so I expected them some what soon. Apparently I thought wrong, because a week passed and nothing. Finally on Tuesday I'm coming back from Ponderosa with my laundry (Side note: None of the washing machines in my building work, so we have to trek over to Ponderosa) when I see the red SUU maintenance truck. I'm thinking my prayers have finally been answered and he's here to fix my electrical situation. He opens the back door and holds it open for me, and then proceeds to go up the stairs. A fabulous sign, because my place is on the top floor. We both make it up to my landing and I can hardly believe it, I'm so thrilled he's here. All I can think about is turning that stupid kitchen fan on and maybe microwaving myself one of the delicious frozen pretzels I've been denied. 

I tell him he's probably here for my apartment, and then he says "Oh, so to fix the  bed in # blankety blank" Which is the apartment across the hall from me. I'm furious at this point, but being raised to be polite to people in public, I refrain from throwing my laundry basket at his head. I tell him that I too have put in a maintenance report, and that I have NO EFFING ELECTRICITY, and he tells me he'll come over and take a look at it if he has time. Like it's going to take him a huge amount of time to help some girl adjust her bed hight. 

I go into my apartment and seethe about it a bit, and then tell Emilia that maintenance thinks a bed hight adjustment is more important than us melting every time we're in the living room or kitchen. She is likewise displeased, though we both now have the hope that maybe he'll come back over when he's done and check out what's going on. He's over there for 45 minutes, I know because I timed it and kept looking out his window to see if his truck was still in the lot. After 45 minutes I hear a car door shut, I look out the window and the guy and his truck were driving away. I was not pleased. 

I do have electricity now, but only because my wonderful RA put in another maintenance request for us and someone came out to fix it the very next day. Vanessa is amazing!

End of Friday September 3, 2010 post.

It's now Tuesday and I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. It was great to see my family, but it was also nice for me to leave. It wasn't that I was looking forward to leaving them, it was just that I wasn't dreading coming back to Cedar City. I was even a little bit excited even. I find I have a lot more to do here at school, and I think I like being busy. Well, busy with enjoyable things, but I think that's the same for everyone. 

To end this massive post, I will say that I had a fabulous weekend, loved seeing my family,  loved having some down time, and was happy to come back home when it was all over. Maybe I need to start calling this my southern home or something along those lines.