1 year down...who knows how many to go!

About 235 days

32 credits

About 27 essays

3 Huge Research Projects

11 dates

Around 60 dollars in testing center fee's

Countless late nights

Several weeks of American Idol and yummy food nights

And lots of other exciting things...

My Freshman Year has ended!

This last Saturday marked the official end of my Freshman Year at BYU as I finished my last two finals and turned in my apartment key to Horne 52. It was bitter-sweet leaving, as I have lived here for about 8 months, but I'm ready to move on! This year has definitely been one full of changes and adjustments, but it was great. I realized that I need to be a little more focused in school. I made awesome friends that will hopefully last a lifetime. I gained a lot of knowledge, both in spiritual ways as well as intellectually. It's been tough, but definitely worth it. My dad and brother Michael came to Utah and helped me move everything out of my apartment (I was afraid it wouldn't all fit in the van...but alas, it did!), and after saying goodbye to my roommates, we went to Wingers, one of our families favorite restaurants. I hate goodbyes, so it was sad to say goodbye to my roommates and friends. But its so nice to be home! Now only if I can find a job...I ended this semester having no clue what I want to major in. Maybe BYU will enact a blogging/facebook stalking major next semester. I can always hope, right? Anyways, here are some pictures from the last day at BYU!

Er..I guess it already came.

This is Rachel. We met last semester in like September or October in my Biology class. We had to sign up for this project, and it was a mad rush to do it, and I had the paper. I had no idea who she was but she was like "hey my name is rachel flannigan, write it down please!". So I did. Here's the funny part. So we sat next to each other for like..oh a month or so, and somehow where we lived came up. I told her I lived in Horne Hall..and she was like "...no way. me too." We'd been living in the same building and same ward for two months before realizing it. At that point we were way good friends, so this was so exciting! She's so awesome, and I'm glad I met her! I actually ended up visiting teaching her second semester, so that was fun! Anyways, I thought it was a funny story.
Right before I left I ran into two of my FHE sisters, Kate and Emily. They are so much fun!

Horne 52 :( I sure will miss these girls! They  have all definitely become some of my best friends. We had such a fun year! Even if the apartment we lived in was cramped, old, and I'm still convinced it's a prison cell. 
Lindsay! Oh goodness...Good times with this girl. We were destined to be friends because we blogged and had similar music tastes. If that isn't fate, I don't know what is. 

McKenzie! She is absolutely hilarious and a great friend! Pretty much my favorite person to talk about boys with, and go to the mall randomly with! Miss her!
Christie! If you want to meet the nicest person ever, look no further. Even though there was always some kind of teasing banter going on, i always have so much fun talking to her! What a great friend!
Shalece! It's always a party when she's around. I always enjoy talking to her and hearing what she has to say. She was such a fun roommate to have!
Oh Andrea. We've had so many good times together and I'm so sad we won't be roommates next year! Definitely lots of hanging out will ensue..We had so many great late night talks (haha...she even had one or two with me while I was talking in my sleep), working out, dinner dates at the creamery and other stuff. We became great friends and I'm so glad we were roommates!

My moving crew ;-) haha just kidding. My dad and brothers definitely moved all my stuff from my apartment, which was so nice! Aren't they a good looking bunch?



My cute brothers and I. I was glad Michael came out with my dad to pick me up! And I don't know how I could have made it through this year without Daniel. He's the best big brother and friend anyone could ask for :)

These next three pictures are from Wingers. Like i said, one of my families favorite restaurants in Utah! The last few times we've been its been kind of disappointing, but the Wingers inside the Provo Mall is really good! Definitely recommend it. 


Yep. That's the end!

Does this look familiar?

Remember when I posted these pictures on this blog about packing up and moving to Utah for college? 

Well, a similar situation is now occuring....but this time, I'm moving back home!!

Doesn't look quite  as messy as the first pictures..but let me tell you, it seems to be a much more daunting task this time. I've been packing this whole evening, and even after I've pretty much put eveything in boxes..my room doesn't look much better than the above picture. But you know what. I don't care! Today was my last class of my freshman year. I took my first final of the semester. I watched American Idol. I had Quesochungas. I have four finals to take on Friday and Saturday. One more day of work. One final on blackboard. And then...

I go home!

If you can't tell. I'm so. stinking. excited. I need a four month break. Thank goodness for BYU's long break. I'm totally fine not having a Spring Break since we get out so early. Ah. Its crazy, this year has flown by. But I'll save the sentimental stuff for another blog once I get home ;-)

Oh and just for kicks and giggles, this is basically what I look like on a nightly basis lately. I'm so tired, my make up smears, my hair is in a ridiculous style (this is a result of me sitting on a couch watching 24, and putting my hair in a random pony tail, along with messing around with the bobby pins already in place. Aren't I adorable? No wonder I got 5 dates in one week...hehe--yet another story for another bl0g).

Fall 2009 Schedule

Bah, I'm not even done with this semester and I've already started trying to figure out my classes for next semester! So I registered last week, thought I had the perfect schedule, life was perfect, yadayada. Well, then all of the sudden I really realized how much I love to write. Like. I just couldn't stop thinking about it (okay, so I could, but I just started thinking about it a lot). So I was like . . . what the heck, maybe I'll take Media Writing AND Intro to Family Processes. But doing this, I had to switch a bunch of classes around. Some of my roommates can atest to me having a minor freak out last night, where I just sat on my couch being like "I don't know what to do with my life or what to do for my schedule." So I've been sitting here..Trying to figure out my dumb schedule for the past few hours. And I think I have finally decided what I'm taking. And I know most of you are thinking "So you seemed to sure about the marriage and family major, you crazy indesicive girl!". Well, I did. I thought that I really wanted to do that. I really felt like I needed to take those classes last semester. But for some reason, all of the sudden I realize...I don't wanna go to school for like 5 or 6 more years (so I could get a masters in marriage and family therapy). And obviously I couldn't do anything with the marriage and family studies degree, without a masters. Not that journalists make much more. But I dunno. I think that for some reason, I needed to put off taking that news writing class until this next semester, and that I needed to take those two marriage and family classes I did this semester. Quite honestly, they've really changed my perspective on a lot of things, and I feel like it wasn't a waste taking them. One of the classes, human development, really changed my life. That sounds so corny, but others have taken that class would agree. I am grateful that I decided not to drop out of my Principles of Journalism class at the beginning of the semester like I had originally intended on doing. But yes, I don't know. Who knows if this is what I will end up doing..But for now, I will be embarking on the Print Journalism route again, and I'm gonna minor in marriage and family life. Because I only need like 2 or 3 more classes for it. So, without further adieu, drum roll......

Media Writing: Why did I drop this class for winter semester? I don't know. I'm just crazy. I'm excited though, because I've heard its a really fun class. And It'll be fun to write again, just not essays. ha ha.

Intro to Family Processes: Whether I decide to stick with this major, or just to the minor, it'll be good to have this class. It sounds plenty interesting!

New Testament: I'm taking this with my favorite teacher from this year, Brother Johnson. He is sooo good, I'm excited to take another Religion class from him!

Missionary Prep: I'm so excited for this one. Brother Bott, from what I've heard, is one of the best teachers ever. Especially since he was voted number on teacher on ratemyprofessors.com :)

Music 201: This is for my civ credit. Yeahhh I hate GE's, but this one seemed the least painful.

Raquetball, Golf, or Bowling: This is to finish my Health credit..I'm not sure which one I should take, any suggestions? I'm leaning towards bowling.

MAYBE Guitar: I'm gonna try and practice it up over the summer, and if I get decent enough, I'll take guitar again. We'll see.

Provo's Best Kept Secret

Tonight I had the best opportunity ever. I was given a private viewing of one of Provo's up and coming guitar/vocalists, Christie Beck. You may be thinking, Christie Beck? Now isn't that your roommate? And you are right. I have been living with a guitar prodigy this whole year and only recently have I discovered this. Christie is such a saint, because she so willingly stopped her studies to give me a concert that I needed in order to pass my guitar class. It was an enligthening evening and I feel very cultured after hearing classics such as "Let it Be" by the Beetles. I felt like I would be selfish if I didn't inform everyone about this great young musician. One day when she's rich and famous, you'll think back on this blog and know..that Katie knew her first.

(see christie, i told you i'd post something)
 

Conference!

Can I just say how much I loved conference?! Over the past few years I have come to love conference so much, and I can honestly say it's my favorite two weekends of the year. I remember how much I disliked going when I was younger, because it was soooooo long and sooooo boring. I started enjoying it more when I started to draw pictures of the speakers, and eventually I started listening and jotting down notes. Now, I get so excited for conference and have my journal and pen ready to jot down all the gems which the speakers always say. I was thinking, do you think that all the speakers feel a lot of pressure to come up with some witty or memorable saying that will be put on those little brick engraved plaques everyone has in their houses til the end of time? Or that will be inevietably quoted by speakers, teachers, and other apostles and future prophets? I think so. I don't think I could ever think of some of the cool things I've heard. Therefore, that is why you will never see me up there speaking. haha. Anyways, I felt that there were a lot of great messages conveyed during the two days. I really noticed an emphasis on temples, relying on God, and not giving into self-destructing thoughts/behavior. I really loved the talk on Provident Living from the Saturday Morning session. Ooh and the one on not being a missing in action shephard. I really liked how he said that as members we need to do the finding so missionaries can spend more time teaching. I went through my notes and then wrote down in my journal all of my favorite quotes. Although I won't write out all of them, here are a few of my top ones:

"I'm a nobody and you're a nobody and if you ever forget it, the Lord will remind you and it won't be pleasant." I think this was Elder Andersen..But correct me if I'm wrong

"You cannot google search testimony. You cannot text message faith." Elder Ballard. Love this one, especially because I totally rely on google to answer all my questions. It was a good reminder to look towards the scripture and prayer for the answers to lives most important questions.

"The future is as bright as your faith."-President Monson. At first I thought he said ". . . as your face." And I was like, well that's weird. It made more sense when I realized he said faith.

"You don't have to spend time as a Laman or Lemuel to be a Nephi or Jacob." Elder Ballard

"Adversity is proof of God's love." President Eyring

"You are never lost when you can see the temple." Elder Stevenson

"We don't acquire eternal life in a sprint; it's a race of endurance." President Uchtdorf

I don't remember who did it, but they quoted something from Elder Wirthlin. I don't remember the exact quote from the talk the guy quoted, but I found the talk and read it. I definitely recommend reading it. My favorite part is when he said:
"Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.

We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won’t, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming."
(the part that was in the talk in conference was "His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will." Love it).

And...I'm done.

A few other random things:

~12 days til I go home. Can I tell you just how excited I am?!
~Some guy just came into the clinic and was like "It's 9:10 AM and you have a huge smile on your face. I love it." Made my day. It makes me want to smile all the time!
~Since March 25th, 2009, I have written in my journal 8 times! This is a big deal, because I usually write once a year. I bought a sweet journal from the Bookstore, and it's inspired me to write more.
~This is my last week of classes. Yay!!
~I love my nalgene water bottle. Especially because it's BYU-esque.
~Even though the Creamery food is way unhealthy, I love it. I mean, this month's special is this grilled chicken sandwich with sweet and sour sauce, onion rings, and bacon. What more could you ask for?
~I hate packing. I tried to start yesterday and I didn't know where to start. I don't have my sisters to do it for me...I mean help me...like last time! eek!

An ephinaneous moment!

(Okay I don't know if ephiananeous moment is a weird. Actually, I'm sure it's not because the spell check on here is saying it's not...but I'm gonna use it anyways!)

I was going through some random blogs today, and someone posted a website with the 100 most mispronounced words . Most of the words, I say correctly according to the list, but there was one word (more like phrase I supposed) that I was just shocked that I never pronounced correct. Spitting image. Or I guess its correct form "spit and image". I mean, I've grown up my whole entire life saying this phrase completely wrong, and no one has ever corrected me. Am I the only one who has said this wrong? Or are the rest of you as suprised as me! (even if you aren't, please say you are so I don't feel so dumb).

Anyways, that's my exciting moment from work today.

So, is this cheating?

Here at BYU there is the Honor Code. Despite the complaints which some people have against it, I overall like it. Except for the fact that guys can have mustaches but not any other type of facial hair. I mean, mustaches are nasty. Other facial hair, a little scruff here and there, I find to be somewhat attractive on males that can pull it off. I think that needs to be updated. ANYWAYS. One of the big things on the Honor Code is academic honesty. It's great. The thought of defying this has kept me many a times from saying I completed my reading for certain classes when in fact I did not. However, I have been contemplating whether or not something would be considered "cheating". Whenever I write an essay, which is indoubtedly always the night, or in many cases a few hours, before the due date, I tend to put the date in the header as at least a few days before. Why? For one thing, in my mind, it makes me feel like less of a procrastinator (even though in reality, it has no effect). But mainly, I feel as if teachers grade you less harsh if they see that you wrote the people in advance. Why do I believe that? Because after some thorough examination (okay, maybe just a few papers of mine), I have noticed that I get better grades on the ones where I put the date a few days before than the ones where I honestly put the correct date. So, cheating or no? I don't think so. But just to be safe, I've started opening up a word document about a week before I intend to write the paper and put the heading in. I mean, I started an attempt towards beginning the paper, right?
Think about it.