Graduation!

Well, i did it! On Friday and Saturday, I graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho! with a Bachelor's degree in psychology! It's such a surreal feeling, 4 and 1/2 years of college over and done! These college years have gone so fast, i can hardly believe it!

Friday, December 18, 2009 was a crazy day! i had to take the last two finals of my college career, run around campus to get graduation tickets and all before that night when i had my convocation with the Education and Human Development college- they read my name and i walked across the stage to get my diploma (cover)! and of course got to wear this most stylish outfit!

All of my family was able to come for my graduation! i was so happy to have them there with me on this big day! My parents, my brothers, both sets of grandparents and my dear aunt and uncle from Rexburg all came to support me and i was so glad!

Saturday, December 19, 2009 was the Commencement ceremony for all of the Fall 2009 graduates- there were 1270+ graduates! We lined up in the Fieldhouse and as we walked through the halls to the auditorium, our teachers lined the halls and clapped for us as we walked down the hall! It was such a cool experience because these teachers know my name and know me and really did care about me and my accomplishment! It was a really cool experience and I was so glad that i was able to go to this school and have this experience!

Graduation was a really great experience- there were excellent speakers and wonderful words of wisdom and a real feeling of accomplishment! It was a wonderful end to my hard working 4 and 1/2 years of college! President Clarke spake, Elder Johnson of the Seventy and Elder Richard G. Scott! (When his speech is posted on line, i will post my favorite parts!)

It was a wonderful weekend- i still don't feel old enough, wise enough or mature enough to be a college graduate but so it is! I'm sad that this stage has come to an end, it has been a wonderful time of my life, but i'm also excited for this next stage! There are so wonderful things to come...and i'll just have to wait and see what it is!

A Post!

I haven't written on my blog in the longest time, so i decided that i should at least post something since it has been so long, it might seem like i don't have a life! and sometimes i wonder the same thing! I have been deep into my last semester at BYU-I so i have only had that as my life! Most days i go from 9 or 10 until 6 or 7 nonstop!! thankfully after midterms, things have slowed down a little bit, but midterms just mean that the semester is coming to a quick end! i almost can't believe that i am graduating in December! i have to remind myself everyday, else i will probably not get anything done that i need to!

i'm in a stage right now where i am having to make some new goals for my life because i have achieved as many of my current goals as i can! New goals....anybody got any ideas!? I'm making a list of things that i want to do with my life and this is what i have so far-

Make a better Philo T. Farnsworth museum in Rigby, Idaho

Go to the Logan Temple and do baptisms for the dead

Take a cake decorating class

Go to graduate school

Graduate from college - check!

Pay off my school debt

Get married

Have kids

Go to a temple session in every temple in the United States

Be in the temple with all of my family

Buy a new car

Drive a convertible

Make a quilt

Read all of Jane Austen's books

(these are not necessarily in any kind of order!)

Go to see a Broadway play in New York

that's all i've got so far! if anyone has any ideas of great goals to have in life, let me know! i need some direction!

July 2009!

July has been the best month of the whole entire summer!

Why you ask?

Because my brother Brenen came home from his mission!

July 24th was the day! He has been on his mission in Paraguay for 2 years and now he is home! That day was one of the longest of my life- it's like waiting for Christmas, but even more exciting! He was supposed to get in at 6:30 Friday night but one of his flights was delayed and he didn't end up getting into Boise until 9:30 that night! Talk about anxious!

Here we are at the airport, so excited for our brother to come home! we are excited, even if it doesn't exactly look like that!

My parents were so excited! They were the most excited, but they were trying to play it cool!

Here he is! Elder Olsen, home at last! We couldn't believe that it was him! After two years, we thought he looked like a completely different person- he talked funny, and looked different, but in actuality, i think we were just in shock, because within 24 hours he looked and talked normal and completely like himself! He was just as much in shock as we were, all he could say was "oh my goodness!" i can't imagine what it would be like coming home after serving a mission for 2 years of your life!

The Olsen family is back together! I love this picture of all of the boys! I love my boys! We were so excited to have our whole family back together for the first time in over 2 years! What an exciting day- it really was better than Christmas! I was so happy, i just smiled all day!

What a sight! A whole slue of pre and post missionaries! and a great bunch of men! I am so proud of all of these great men in my life!

We picked up his luggage- (only 2 suitcases for two years, i don't know how that's possible)- and then got in the car and went home! that was it, that was all it took! He's home now and i'm so glad to have him home! i love my brother!

You're It!

Rebecca Wood Andersen- you keep me blogging! I have been told, on more than one occasion in the last month, that i don't update my blog enough! my response- i blog when i have time and something important to report! so now i have time and something to report, so get ready for a long blog post! Becca tagged me in this questionnaire and so i will entertain you all with my answers...i hope!

What is your current obsession? my current obsession is probably watching Psych! my family just went on vacation and spent 15 + hours in the car, all of which were spent watching season 3 of Psych! i suggest that everyone watch it, you'll love it! "Gus, don't be a gooey chocolate chip cookie" "That's some bad ju ju mc gumbo!" :) just watch it and see!

What do you hate (or dislike) the most that everyone else seems to love? Monopoly, i just don't have a desire to ever play that game and i've promised myself that i never will. i have no reason for hating it, i have just chose to dislike it!

What are you wearing today? my fav pair of jeans, a hot pink shade shirt and a ponytail! my excuse- we drove home all day today, i didn't get ready and had no reason to!

What's for dinner? we had Papa John's pizza, i chose pepperoni and chicken! pepperoni is the best!

What would you eat for your last meal? i love Italian Chicken! it's the best dish that i make, as well as the easiest! but it's jus my favorite thing- chicken and pasta! yummy!

What was the last thing you bought? a book- The Time Traveler's Wife

What are you listening to right now? Joshua Radin, but that's who not what

What do you think of the person who tagged you? Becca is such an amazing woman! I am so stinking jealous of her because she's smart and beautiful, has an awesome husband and is having a beatiful son, she's always trying to be and do her best and she most often succeeds!

If you could have a house fully paid for and totally furnished anywhere in the world, where would it be? Somewhere green and not too hot, maybe somewhere like Maine or Oregon! actually, i would love a house on the coast, so either the northwest or northeast!

If you could go anywhere for the next hour, where would it be? I really want to go to Utah and see Shan'tel! i really want to see her and her new apartment and just spend the night talking like we used to! i miss you Shanny!

What is one of your hobbies? I love to read-it really doesn't matter what it is, i just love having a book in my hand and a story to read!

What are three things that annoy you most? 1- people who have to be the center of attention and have to be in the spotlight, 2-people who aren't flexible and have to always be right, 3- people who don't do what they say they will or what they are responsible for

What is your favorite color? blue, not entirely original, but nonetheless my favorite

What is your favorite item of clothing in your wardrobe? i have a lot of clothes so it's hard to choose...Practical? jeans, i love a comfy pair of jeans Impractical? my red velvet high heels

What are you going to do after this? go to bed

What is your favorite fruit? either strawberries or bananas! or both together!

What inspires you? the chance to be better, to make a difference, to have a full life and be an inspiration to someone else

Who was the last person you kissed? no one, i have never been kissed and never kissed anyone!

What are you currently reading? The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

What delighted you the most today? hearing my family laugh and enjoy being together, all 7 of us back together!

I tag:
Megan
Shan'tel
Kayla
BreighAn

Shan'tel and Andrew Christensen's Wedding!

This past weekend, I went down to Utah for the wedding of my best friend Shan'tel! She and I were each other's first roommates in college; wound up together randomly, shared a room for a year and were roommates for two and were destined to be the best friends ever! She and I have been best friends ever since and I was so excited to go down to American Fork for her wedding!

Shan'tel Nelson married Andrew Christensen in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple! They have known each other for 2 years and now are man and wife. I was so excited for her- i almost cried i was so happy for her!

Shan'tel and I have been through a lot together and we always say that we go through the same things at the same time! She is now a little bit ahead of me, being married and all, but I could not be happier about her beating me! Andy is an awesome guy and I throughly approve! Now that I approve and they are married, my job is done!

They got married in the morning and then we spent the afternoon at their luncheon- which was delicious! Then the bride and groom favored as all with a rendition of Dueling Banjos! Shan'tel played the banjo and Andrew played the guitar! It was amazing! Their children are going to be musical prodigies! :)

That evening was the reception at the Alpine Arts Center! It was beautiful! There were roses and teal everywhere! Shan'tel's favorite color is teal so all of the wedding party wore teal! It was so wonderful to see all of the people who came to support the happy couple and to hear everyone talk so highly of them both! It was said over and over that these two are a perfect match!

This is the bouquet toss and I totally caught the bouquet! I've never wanted to catch a bouquet so much in my life, but it was my best friend's bouquet after all!

This is the groom and his dad! Andrew Christensen is a great guy and I am so glad that he found my best friend and fell in love with her! They will be so happy!

The day was a success- Shan'tel got married to the love of her life, the weather was wonderful, the rain stopped all day and didn't start again until that night, the food was good, the cake didn't fall, all of the technology worked, and the only thing that went wrong was that the roses froze in the fridge and they had to be reworked that day, but all in all it was an amazing day and Mr. and Mrs. Christensen rode away into the sunset!

I was so excited to see my best friend married! I wish her every happiness in the world and am so glad that she was sealed for time and all eternity to the man of her dreams!

Sno Cone!

Yesterday i had my first sno cone of the summer! Need i say more...

My Fate This Summer

As some of you know, I have spent the past 4 summers of my life being a hostess at the Olive Garden- "When you're here, you're family"- I personally think that nothing could be farther from the truth, do you really want to be treated like family when you go out to eat! My fate this summer lies in having to work there AGAIN! i did not want to ever go back to Olive Garden, 4 summers was enough for me, but with a horrible economy and really no job experience and no degree, I was having a next to impossible time finding anything else. So here I am, my 5th summer at Olive Garden, and counting down the days until I never have to work there again!

Now it's not all bad, granted- they have great breadsticks, but people, I never get to taste those breadsticks unless i pay for them just like you (and *spoiler alert*- they come out of a box)! There are some perks to the job, and a lot of cons- here's my lists and reasons for my feelings toward Olive Garden
1) the first question out of everyone's mouth when they hear i work at the OG is "you must get tons of free food?" and the answer is a resounding NO! those people are so stingy, maybe that's why they are so profitable, but in exchange you get hungry employees!
2) you meet all kinds of people when you work at a restaurant, everybody's got to eat so you see all kinds! i enjoy the personal study of people that the Olive Garden environment affords, so at least that keeps my mind occupied! other than that, i've never been so bored in my life when i am assigned to greet, which is code for "be a glorified door stop and try not to feel like a robot when you say the same five phrases over and over again-"Hi, how many today, how was everything, thanks for coming in, have a great night"!
3) i do admit, that i get a thrill from the power that i hold as a hostess! this is ridiculous, i know but let me explain the thrill- every summer i start at the bottom of the hostess totempole, because of that people assume that i don't know what i'm doing, within a week they know that i know what's going on and not to mess with me, and then i try my best to work my way to the top of the totempole within the month! the top of the totempole allows me to be "Lead", which means i get to stand around and tell people what to do! i never thought that i would let power go to my head, but somehow it does! there is also a wonderful thrill knowing that you rule the restaurant even if nobody really knows it!
4) the only reasons i find myself going back to Olive Garden is 1) that they let me come back for the summer, 2) i don't have to work Sundays, and 3) i know that i can reasonably handle 4 months of the place before i go insane! i do have some friends there and i do enjoy it some days, but my final resolve is that i will never, after this summer, be going back to Olive Garden, unless it is to sit down and eat like a normal person, or as normal as possible, working in a restaurant ruins you to eating in restuarants because you know the inner workings and you know what's going on and you overanalyze a situation that should be relaxing and worryfree!
There are so many stories i could tell and more i could vent about, but for now, know that I am wasting away my summer days in a commercialized faux-italian restaurant, hungry because while you are coming in to eat, i'm working and so wishing i could have one of your breadsticks!

End of Winter Semester!

This semester has been one of the best! i loved loved loved loved loved my roommates! I was so glad that i stayed in Riviera so that i could meet and know these girls- Kariann, Lexi, Laura and Kenzie! we ended the semester off with a bang, complete with finals, cleaning, packing, picture taking and a midnight trip to Dennys! Most of us extended the goodbyes because we all went down to Utah for the break, but then again most of Rexburg went down to Utah for the break! It was so fun to hang out on campus with nothing to do, while everyone else ran around stressed out with school work! and now i am home, and glad to be here with my family, but missing you girls tons! All i can say is i loved this semester and i love you! thanks for making it a great semester number 8!

I also must have spent the semester doing enough homework and studying because I pulled through with A's! (and one A- but that one should have been an A too, but i won't get into that)! Whew, that's a load off of my mind! Another semester accomplished- 8 down, 1 to go! ....and then 3 more years after that! woot!

I am now officially 22! Of course, it doesn't feel much different than 21, but it does feel older! I'm hoping that 22 is going to be a good year, i anticipate that it will- Brenen comes home, i'm graduating from college and hopefully getting a life! We'll see, only time will tell! More details coming on the festivities... cause right now i need to be writing essays for finals! 

4 MONTHS!

Today is the day!! This day means that Brenen has been on his mission for 20 months, and that he has 4, read it, 4 more months on his mission! I am so excited for him to come home! He has been an amazing missionary in Paraguay, and I am so proud of him! But boy am i excited for him to come home! 4 MORE MONTHS!

The Rexburg Temple!

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the Rexburg Temple! Can you believe that it's been one whole year since the dedication of our temple? I was recounting the open house and dedication with a friend of mine, and he asked me if i had gone to the open house- i had to confess that i had gone 4 times! I remembered how excited i was to go into the House of the Lord, i couldn't stay away! I haven't been able to go back very often because it's so packe and busy! But i am making a new goal to go back more often! 

 

The thing that affected me most about the dedication last February, was the emphasis on President Woodruff's prophecy of this valley: 

"Be not disheaertened; be not discouraged, because God's blessing is upon this land. It will be only a little time before there will be prosperous and happy settlements of Latter-day Saints here. You feel that you have gone away from your friends, and you are almost out of the world, but it will be only a short time when you will have a meeting house, and a school house, and all of the facilities here that you had at home before you came here. God will bless and multiply the land! The Spirit of the Lord rests mightily upon me and I feel to bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. I promise you that the climate will be moderated for your good. I can see these great sagebrush prairies, as far as the eye can reach, turned into fertile fields. I bless the land that it shall yield forth in its strength. Flowers and trees and fine homes shall grace this great valley from one end to the other. Schools and colleges of higher learning shall be built to serve you that you may learn the mysteries of God’s great universe. I see churches and meetinghouses dotting the landscape, where the God of Israel may be worshiped in spirit and in truth. Yes, and as I look into the future of this great valley I can see temples—I can see beautiful temples"

I'm so glad that this revelation has come to past, and that i have been around to see it happen! I love to see the temple and I'm so grateful it's sitting up on the hill! 

25 Random Things

Thanks to my dear Becca, who tagged me, I am going to spend some much need sleep time coming up with random facts about me...excitement!

Here we go...

1) I can not keep a secret worth beans! well, an exciting secret! It's probably one of my biggest faults and i try to hide it oh-so-well, but let's face it, if you tell me something exciting, i'm going to want to tell people, unless i am explicitly told not to! but i'm sure not good at secret keeping!

2) I am teaching a math class on campus! part-time, once a week

3) My brother is coming home from his mission in 5 1/2 months! I am so freaking excited that i'm having dreams about him coming home! He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to be my best friend!

4) I LOVE SHOES! AND CLOTHES! i have more than enough clothes to last me at least a month without doing my laundry, and probably shoes to go with it! 

5) I cried when my mom came home and told me that my youngest sibling was going to be a boy! I already had 3 brothers and wanted a sister, but i wouldn't trade my Dally Wally for anything!

6) My hair is my secret pride! Honestly, i have great hair! it's not straight and it's not curly but it can do both! it's amazing! and it's a lovely chocolate brown! I also hate it when people tell me i have black hair, cause i dont!

7) Today my best friend Shantal and i were making biscuits at the same time, AND the same kind of biscuits!! IT'S AMAZING! i know this because i called her as i was making biscuits and she answered while she was making biscuits!

8) My wise words of wisdom usually consist of these phrases- It's not a big deal, don't worry about it, things will work out!

9) I have a new found love of waffles! i make them at least once a week and love them with peanut butter, bananas and tons of syrup!

10) I don't know how i ended up at BYU-Idaho, and i don't know how i ended up as a psychology major, but i did and i am!

11) I rarely if ever sleep under my covers! I don't like being restricted and i don't like making my bed so i sleep on top of the covers with a blanket!

12) I put exclamation points at the end of almost every sentence!!!!!!

13) I am a devout stadium singer!

14) I think the brain is fascinating! and i like math! and i like school! i'm a nerd, i know!

15) I am having Rock Band withdrawals! i'm an awesome guitarist!

16) I am a horrible decision maker, at least when it comes to what i want! i know what i don't want, but i have to use that info to narrow down my options to what i do in fact want!

17) Today is my one month anniversary of knowing Laura McKeen!

18) I am competitive when it comes to two things- academics and bowling!

19) I am my mother's daughter! Apparently we are identical! even though we don't see it!

20) I hit the snooze button every morning for at least an hour!

21) I LOVE WINTER! i love the snow, and i like cold weather, i hate being hot, so Rexburg is an awesome place!

22) i like throwing parties! i like being the hostess of parties! i like people coming over for parties! i love parties!

23) I like polka dots! i used to hate them, my mom would try to get me to buy things with polka dots on them and i refused because i hated polka dots and i swore that i would never like polks dots...yeah, i like polka dots!

24) i may be lactose intolerant, sucky!

25) i don't like to capitalize my i's!

Thoughts...

“The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them. If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that he may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by-and-by.” ~ Elder George Q. Cannon

 

“Jesus labored. Jesus loved. Jesus served. Jesus testified. What finer example could we strive to emulate? Let us begin now, this very night, to do so. Cast off forever will be the old self and with it defeat, despair, doubt and disbelief. To a newness of life we come- a life of faith, hope, courage and joy. No task looms too large; no responsibility weighs too heavily; no duty is a burden. All things become possible.” ~ President Thomas S. Monson

A NEW SEMESTER!

This is semester #8 at BYU-Idaho and i can hardly believe that i have been here for so long! I don't tend to notice it until my roommates remind me that they are 18 and have been here 2 weeks and i'm 21 and have been here for years already! I'm excited for this semester though- it's going to be one of the busiest yet! i'm full time, taking 14 credits- i'm taking 2 psychology classes; Sensation and Perception & Psychological Assessment, and 3 minor classes- Parenting, Foundations of Early Childhood Education and Fundamentals of Scripture Study! On top of that, i'm working in the math lab tutoring Statistics, plus working as a TA doing one-on-one tutoring for Algebra, plus tutoring two middle school kids from Rexburg, whose Mom has accosted me multiple times to help them, and on top of all of that, I was asked to teach a Pre-Algebra class a couple of times this semester! So that leaves a little room for homework and sleep, the gym and a social life, but mostly the word is BUSY! I'm excited though for what this semester will bring! i've got one semester left after this so i'm just trying to enjoy the time that i have left here! LET THE SEMESTER BEGIN!