Finish Line

When I think of a "Finish Line" the first thing that pops into my mind is an Olympic runner leaning into a colorful string or strip of tape a split second before his opponent. But as I think about it a bit longer and apply it to my life, the picture in my mind changes. We are first year freshman here at Brigham Young University-thee BEST school! and we are now coming upon the end of our first semester. You could say we're reaching a finish line. It will be one of many on our road to graduation, but it is still a pretty epic event.

Even with all the training the Olympic athlete has done to prepare for this final race, it's still a struggle for him because he has to take everything he's worked on and give it all, push himself harder than he ever has before if he wants that gold. We, as students coming up on finals, need to do the same. We need to push with all we've got and aim for the gold (A's!). So good luck reaching this finishing line!! :)

Just think-after finals we have CHRISMAS BREAK!!!! with NO homework!! :)

Structure

I don't know if it's just me, but I prefer to have structure in the things I do; I think it is absolutely necessary in order to be successful.

I have structured eating habits. I eat around the same time each day and usually around the same amount. I have a good idea of what I'm going to eat for breakfast, I know where I'm going for lunch (if it's the MOA I recommend the Turkey Apple Harvest!! YUM) and that I'll probably eat at the Cannon Center for dinner. :) If I didn't have this structure there's a good chance I would be incredibly obese or unhealthily thin. Structure is important!

It's also important for school, I have a structured schedule-sometimes I take it a little overboard and structure out each day. While that may seem a little intense, this way I know what I'm supposed to do and when I'm supposed to do it. I need structure in my classes. I think we all can agree that thee most frustrating thing in a class is when it is not structured. In these cases, you don't know what the assignments are, and if you do, you don't know what to do with them.

The fact of the matter is that, while there may be times to let loose and go with the flow, we need structure! :)

PEACE and LOVE

Gratitude

I'm thankful for...

Friends, family, the Gospel, Twilight Books, cell phones, Thanksgiving dinner, cute boys, Christmas morning, Brooke, Joanna, my bed at home, volleyball, razors, Book of Mormon, dancing, freedom of speech, boys in suits, shoes, cookie dough, Home cooked meals, smiles, inside jokes, Chelsey, Special K cereal, peanut butter, nutella, Dining Meal Plus, colors, summer time, winter clothes, mascara, flip flops, tunnel singing, car dancing, Mariah Carey, teachers, pancakes with peanut butter, orbit gum, uggs, racquetball, Channing Tatum, straighteners, pedicures, grandma blankets, over sized sunglasses, the beach, hot chocolate with little marshmallows, camping, Cinderella, temples, missionaries, chick flicks, snuggling, rainbows, strawberries and sugar, fondue, shopping, juicy lips, itunes, 80s music videos, slimfast, jumping, edward cullin, crayola crayons, baking cookies, eating the dough, Christmas break, stick figures, boys in sweater vests that bring you flowers, light bulbs, hugs prophets, people with contagious laughs, beautiful boy, taking pictures, running, chelen johnson, relief society, skinny jeans and high heels!

...to name a few :)

The Stress Factor

What factors into your stress?? For most people it's a mixture of school, work, homework, family, friends, relationships and all of life's little tasks that seem to take up WAYY more time than they ought to. Am I right?

Regardless what it is that factors in, I bet I can guess what factors out-food! This doesn't necessarily mean that you eat lots of food when you're stressed--it could, but it could mean the opposite as well. People often go to extremes when they're under stress-anorexia nervosa and compulsive overeating are two serious examples.

Of course not everyone reacts quite so seriously to stress, but we do all have our comfort foods that we seem to turn to in these "times of need" Women often go to chocolate (YUM!!) and who can blame them!? Mashed potatoes or home cooked meals are often another big "release" from stress.

Presently, school is overwhelmingly stressful! But luckily for us, we only have one more week until our stress factor is relieved! (At least temporarily) So here's my advice, keep working hard for this week and TAKE A BREAK over Thanksgiving! You know you need it!

I Met DAVID ARCHULETA!!

This past Friday I went to the Matt Nathanson concert (if you don't know who he is, look him up! You'll love him) Anyway we were standing not ten feet from the stage and I hear this couple in front of my, obviously in the honeymoon stage of dating, flirting tirelessly. The bf starts teasing the gf, '"David Archuleta" is here!" The girl giggles and comes off a bit ditsy, I mean who would believe that David Archuleta is at this little concert!? Nonetheless, I looked back up to the box and back down, shaking my head at the smitten couple.

Well time passes and whispers mull their way through the crowd, "David Archuleta! Yeah the guy from American Idol, he's in the box!" Suddenly I'm intrigued, I look back up to the box. I realize the same silhouette I saw the first time I gazed up now looks strikingly like David Archuleta-the boy I had watched every week for a season on American Idol. It was a "re-vision."

So I'm a fan, NO SHAME, so my new purpose for that evening was to meet him. Well we hung around after the concert, but the big, black security guard kicked us out with one of those don't-mess-with-me-you-punk-kids look on his face. Still not ready to accept defeat we hung around the front for quite some time.

Well I guess God blesses patients! David Archuleta came down the stairs and right out front! There were probably ten people around and we all got pictures, autographs and a taste of his famously awkward laugh. I was so excited, I called Brooke, "I'm 2 feet from David Archuleta!! David, will you say hi to my friend Brooke!??" I put my phone up to his ear, "ha..ha Hey..Brooke...haha (awkward laugh) this is..David Archuleta..." It was priceless!

So David Archuleta may be shy and awkward, not to mention a foot shorter than me, but seeing him in real life was one of the craziest experiences of my life. I have to look at the pictures repeatedly to make sure I'm not going crazy and dreaming them all up. Each time I look at them I have a "revision"-of American Idol and of that night. It really did happen!

I Have Style

I have style. Do I really need to go on? Probably not, but for the purpose of a more insightful blog, I will. I have my own style in pretty much everything I do, as do most of us. The way I dress, the way I do my hair, the way I write and yes, of course, the way I eat. Heck I've got style for the way I use my time and most definitely the boys I like ;).

While this is a lot of things to have style for, my style for each can be summed up in about one word, "picky." Let me go on in detail for a few of these subjects.

The way I dress-I know what I like and I know what I don't like; I know what stores are my favorite to shop in (Charlotte Russe) and which ones I always steer clear of (Hot Topic). I have my style for the way I shop and even how I wear the clothes that I buy.

The way I do my hair-Yes, like any other girl, I am picky about my hair. I trust very few people to cut or style it and only rely on other people (not myself) in extreme situations-cuts, colors and up dos :) Like they say, when you want something done right, do it yourself.

The way I eat- PEANUT BUTTER makes just about any food more enjoyable.

The boys I like- I won't go into detail (for respect of time), but picky is definitely my style in this. I hope all of you can say the same!

It's Sunday. I'm still hungry...

So it would be wrong for me to say anything bad about the food at BYU because honestly I love it! But I have to ask, what's the deal with Sunday's?? I don't have church until noon, and call me crazy, but I tend to get kind of hungry between the time I wake up and go to church. The first couple of weeks I was here every Sunday was "fast" Sunday because I didn't know what to do for breakfast-the Cannon is closed and the vending machines are quite temperamental! Half the time I go there it says it doesn't except cards. What!?? At first I figured it was because we weren't supposed to spend money on Sundays. Understandable. Then while I was pondering I realized that we're only asked to fast one Sunday per month and I didn't think the students at BYU would be held to that much higher of a standard than the rest of the church and have to fast every Sunday.

Luckily things have gotten better since those first couple of weeks. The vending machines are being a little less temperamental and I hit jackpot with the Creamery. Thanks to Dining Meal Plus, with all the extra money I have I am well stocked with all the best breakfast foods-quick and easy, tasteful and filling. I no longer look at Sunday morning with despair and I really do love fast Sunday! Once a month. :)

p.s. if you're ever hungry, you know who to call!

Health and What I Eat

What people eat obviously has a HUGE affect on their health; we all have heard the speeches and read the articles, but more than that I think we've all felt the effects in our own bodies.

So "an apple a day" may not "keep the doctor away" , but i tend to feel better when I eat one :) and okay, honestly part of that comes from a total mental state, but my body feels better too!

For track season ever year I pretty much swear off sweets, I might have a little snack once a week, but I'm pretty strict with my diet. I wouldn't eat fast food, chips, cookies, ice cream, candy, soda (well I don't drink it anyway, but still) or really any processed foods. I ate healthy cereal (like Special K!) or oatmeal for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch and various healthy dinners. If I was hungry I snacked on fruits and vegetables or possibly a granola bar to boost my energy before practice. I was constantly hydrating with water and the only other drink I might have was a propel for the electrolytes or possibly a glass of milk at dinner.

While in the beginning this was tough to sustain from my favorite foods (chocolate chip cookies and ice cream are my WEAKNESS), after awhile my body stopped craving the junk. I had a ton of energy and my athletic performance increased substantially. I felt good about myself for having the discipline to eat healthy and could literally feel the difference in my body! I definitely need to get back on that schedule! (but gahh those Cannon Center Cookies! :)

The Cannon Center

First of all I have to admit I LOVE the Cannon Center! There's no denying it. It has an AMMMMMMMAZING fruit and salad bar, 3 main courses at all times and of course the dessert mall! I have a "love-hate" relationship with this section, especially the chocolate chip cookies. Now I consider myself a pretty strong willed person, but when it comes to those cookies, mmmmmm "so moist!" (A Cinderella Story, anyone??) Anyway, I wake up in the morning and decided to eat healthy today, "no sweets". It's easy enough to avoid the cannon center for breakfast (well I guess the truth is that I don't wake up early enough to go lol), but when lunch or dinner hits I usually make my 3 minute trek to the good ol' cannon center. I fill up on the yummy food and am completely satisfied. As I go to exit, I inevitably pass my loved, and dreaded, dessert bar. Even if I close my eyes, I swear I can smell those delicious morsels of soft cookie and gooey chocolate! There's no saving me now, I grab one, no two (one time I ate four!) and walk out with my hand slyly by my side, holding the cookies, so the workers don't get mad at me for taking food out of the Cannon Center. Once out of the wokers sight I down those Heavenly treats; I try to savor the flavor, but it always goes too soon. I go to my room with a new plan to eat healthy tomorrow, I wake up and think to myself, "no sweets" haha "good luck with that girl."

Conference!!

Before I proceed, I have to confess I wasn’t able to watch all of Conference this year L But I did have the opportunity to hear some pretty great things in the parts I did catch! I really enjoyed the talk about finding joy in the moment, everyone gets so caught up in reaching their goals (which is a wonderful thing!) that they forget the live in the moment. We need to appreciate the things, and especially the people, in our lives today because you can never know if they’ll be waiting for you tomorrow. I have many friends that were so ready to get to college that they missed out on some great experiences in high school; we should take this lesson and apply it to college! It may always seem like the next step in life will be the key to our happiness, but I think the true key is learning how to find happiness in each step we take.
The other part of conference that I really enjoyed was hearing where the new temples will be built. One word-ROME!! Now I have a phenomenal excuse to travel there! lol But on a more serious note, it is both amazing and powerful to see the Gospel spread throughout the world. Today Rome, tomorrow Afghanistan?? Yay for missionary work! (FYI: my brother’s serving in Chile!)

Power of Words

In verbal communication body language is probably the most effective technique we can use to get our point across, more so than the actual words we use. While this is wonderful during a face to face conversation, we do not have this luxury when we write an article or essay. Words are the only tool we can use and with them we must find a way to insert our "body language" into our text.
With most words we are able to connect them with a positive or a negative connotation. For instance if I were to explaining a cookie I just ate to a friend (and yes I do this, I LOVE cookies!) through an email, I could write something along the lines of, "The chewy chocolate morsels melted in my mouth" which would let them know that I enjoyed the treat a great deal. If I hadn't enjoyed the cookie, I could write "the brick of a cookie almost chipped my tooth!" This has an obvious negative connotation.
I also believe that in recipes, it is important that the directions are very clear. If you've ever misread the directions and ended up with less than appealing results, you'll know what I'm talking about. Words are powerful!

Pathos

There's no denying it, we all eat, or at least have had experiences, eating according to our emotional state. Many individuals have that "comfort" food when they're stressed or depressed; this can often be a big bowl of ice cream or even mashed potatoes. Other's restrict their diet according to how they are feeling. Many women, and even men, who suffer from a poor body image or are rejected in some way or another blame that on their appearance and react by limiting their intake. The emphasis in this matter is not whether or not we increase or decrease the amount of food we eat or if we resort to our comfort foods, it is the fact that we all do it. Ethos have a heavy impact on what, when and how we eat.

IDK my BFF Jill (Audience)

In my favorite commercial, a mother and daughter struggle with miscommunication because of generation gap and the individuals "lingo" don't quite match up.

Daughter: WU?
Mom: This phone bill! That’s what’s up!
Daughter: OMG(osh). INBD!
Mom: It IS a big deal. Who are you texting 50 times a day?
Daughter:IDK, my BFF Jill!
Mom: Tell Jill I’m taking your phone away.
Daughter: TISNF!
Mom: Paying this phone bill; that’s what’s SNF!

While the commercial most definitely has entertainment value, it also shows how how certain audiences understand or don't understand certain forms of communication. Every teenager i know could understand the daughter's lingo; we all text and IM, it is the communication of our age. We could probably all circle up and speak in "lol's" and "rofl's"-that's laugh out loud and rolling on the floor laughing for those more mature readers. :) On the other hand, if I was talking to my mom or teacher I wouldn't even think to crack a joke using those acronyms because I could be pretty sure that they wouldn't understand it. I might still say exactly the same thing to the adult, but I would alter how I communicated my thoughts based on the audience. That's it for now, but I'll brb next week! T2ul! :)

Come Together! and EAT!

Who doesn't love Rachael Ray? There are thousands of aspects that may have lead to her universal success; her spunky personality, for example, or her excited chatter make her quite endearing, not to mention hilarious to watch.  Without food, however, Rachael Ray would be no more important to you and I than Joshua Tony (what you don't know who that is?? hmm:) Rachael Ray has a gift of bringing people together using food as the common bond. 

She begins with the commonality that all people must eat and continues with the fact that most of us enjoy the task quite a lot! Rachael Ray took this knowledge and her love of food and decided to share it with the world. Her fans span the nation and probably the world-many have nothing in common above their feelings towards food, but somehow that is enough. Regardless of religious beliefs or political views, almost anyone can relate or at least come together for a short time when the topic on hand is food.

BREAKFAST

 I am one of those people who wakes up hungry and loves satisfying my appetite. Sometimes this can be done with a bowl of my favorite cereal-Special K with strawberries, but every now and then I get a serious craving for homemade pancakes with peanut butter AND syrup-healthy I know! :) Now at home in the summer, I can eat whatever my heart desires on my own schedule. At BYU, however, this is not the case.  I could, of course, wake up twenty minutes earlier and grab and delicious bite at the Cannon Center, but for some reason at that early hour, those twenty minutes seem destined for sleep. So I roll out of bed just in time to throw some clothes on, swipe the mascara across my lashes and grab a granola bar or Slim Fast (yes it tastes just like chocolate milk!) and eat it on the way to that 8am class.  My appetite may not be as well satisfied as it was this summer, but I wouldn't trade those 20 minutes of sleep for anything at 7am.