B-Y-U-I

(Photo from the Deseret News, July 22. Photo taken by Michael Lewis, BYU-Idaho)
Friends. (We were told to wear white or blue.) Random people having fun while waiting for the picture to be taken.

On July 7th thousands of BYU-Idaho students (including myself) and faculty members gathered at the stadium to form the letters B-Y-U-I. This was in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the announcement that Ricks College would become Brigham Young University-Idaho. It was really neat to be part of the historic event. The picture is going to be hung in the student center on campus. I'm so glad I get to go to this wonderful university! P.S. I am in the "U" in the picture, right next to the 5. (As if you could see me in there...)

Done!

I'm done with Spring semester! Hooray! School is no piece of cake for me, so it's refreshing to have accomplished another semester's worth of work.

My hardest class this semester proved to be CIT 140- MicroApplications. It was a class about Microsoft Excel. I never knew there was so much to that program! It's a 100 level class, so it shouldn't have been too bad, right? Nope! I put so much sweat, strife, toil, and even tears into it. I went to the lab to get help from a tutor at least once a week. The homework took me about 10-15 hours a week.

I learned a very important lesson from this class. Sometimes we do our best and it and we still fall short. It's very humbling. I worked so hard, and it looks like I am going to end up with a C. All of my other classes I will be getting A's or A-'s though, which is good.

Other good news.... I GOT A SCHOLARSHIP!!!! Sacrifice truly does bring forth the blessings of heaven! I saw on my student account that I had been awarded the scholarship, but I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought there was a mistake. So, I went in to the financial aid office to verify, and sure enough, it's true! It's a scholarship from the Communication department. It's a pretty hefty one, which will cover almost all of my tuition for Fall and Spring semesters. I feel so blessed. I know the Lord is watching out for me.

Now I'm off to enjoy what's left of Summer before Fall semester starts!

Visit the new mormon.org!

I just checked out the new mormon.org and it is awesome! I recommend visiting it and creating a profile. I think this new way of sharing the gospel is brilliant! You share testimony and beliefs on your profile. You only use your first name and don't put where you are from. Those who are interested in learning more about our church can view profiles of people of all ages, ethnicities, etc and see why we belive what we believe. I highly, highly recommend this! Technology is amazing!

The Bishop's Cabin

After classes on Friday my roommates and I headed up to Island Park to spend the evening with some ward members at our now former Bishop's cabin. It was one of the best Friday evenings I've had in a long time. (I mean, look at the pictures!) How could one not be in love with that place?! It was gorgeous beyond belief! The cabin backs up to Island Park reservoir.

I'm not even sure how many bedrooms and bathrooms this place has, but it's a lot! There is a fun room for the grandkids too, which includes a slide. (I bet it was hard for Bishop to be there without his wife- who passed away two months ago. Her picture was in the front room of the cabin. There were also two large framed posters upstairs with pictures of all of the grandkids. The top of the poster said "Families are Forever." Next to each child's picture there was a memory written about their grandma.)

The bishop had two boats, some skidoos, and a "hotdog" (kind of like a raft that hooks up to the back of the boat.) A few of us went on a boat ride around and the reservoir. It was so beautiful and relaxing. I'm pretty sure I was in heaven. :) We just kind of hung out. There was also pool and foosball inside.

We had hamburgers and homemade french fries for dinner. The fries were so good! They were fresh- as in cut and fried right there. The Bishop owns Rigby produce, so I'm sure they came from his work. Idaho definitely knows how to do potatoes right!

After dinner we watched our FHE videos and played some games. Most people stayed overnight, but some of us headed home so we could have a productive Saturday with finals coming up this next week. As we walked outside to the car I glanced up to look at the sky. The stars were absolutely incredible! I think I could have stared at them for hours.

It was so fun! I'm so glad I went!

Oh, The Fun That We Have

It's pretty funny. Perhaps some don't find it funny, but I laughed SO hard. (It has been viewed over 16 million times, so I guess that says something.) Sometimes you just need a random laugh. Last night we re-created it as an FHE group (which explains the ridiculous pictures of me that are posted on facebook). We had SO much fun! This weekend we are going to our former Bishop's (he was just released on Sunday) cabin in Island Park as a ward, where all FHE groups' videos will be shown. Despite my large loads of homework this semester, I have been lucky enough to have some fun here and there.

Progress

(I took this picture on a beautiful evening in Rexburg.)

I was able to register for fall classes last night. It was kind of cool to realize where I'm at. Registration just started a couple of days ago (The students with the most credits get to register first, then it works its way down to the students with the least amount of credits). This means I am getting closer to graduation! It has also been interesting to look at my grad report and see what classes I need. Every semester, little by little, there are fewer and fewer classes I need. I still have a ways to go, but I am getting there. I'm on my way to graduating in 2012. It is almost time for me to find and complete an internship, which is exciting.

Yesterday was also my 18-month mark of being home. I've had mixed feelings. I feel like I've moved on and have a grip of things, but my mission is still such a part of me. Mostly, I think the problem is that I sometimes feel like my life has less meaning and purpose after the mission. But, I was talking to a friend about the fact that I've been home for 18-months and they replied, "Wow. You've served a mission at home." That struck me. Yes, I really have served a mission at home. We are always on a mission. Our life is one big mission. I then got to thinking about everything that has happened in my life over the past year-and-half, everything I've accomplished, and ways I've grown. It was such a good thing to do. Like I mentioned, after having served a full-time mission, I have sometimes feel that I am making little progress in my life. I mean, really, how can you top something like that? I've come to realize that was a pivotal life experience. I probably won't "top" that until I get married and raise children. But, that doesn't mean I'm not progressing now in life. I realized that since I've been home I have been "anxiously engaged" in many good causes, including: serving in the R.S. presidency twice, serving as a ward missionary, serving as a R.S. teacher twice, increasing my temple attendance, and completing 3 semesters at BYU-Idaho. I have also created many new friendships. One of which is with my friend Morgan, whom I met in one of my classes on my first day at BYU-Idaho. Morgan and I often comment about how grateful we are that we were in that class together. When I walked in that class I never would have dreamed that a year later I'd be roommates with one of my classmates and also roommates with her sister. It's amazing how the Lord works. Life never really goes as we plan. I never really planned on going to BYU-Idaho, and I surely didn't plan on still being in school at 24. But, when I look back at where my life has gone, I can definitely see the Lord's hand in it. Who knows what the next 18-months of my life have in store. I guess we'll just see how it all unfolds.

Logos

This semester I've been in a visual media class. We've been learning and working with the Adobe programs (such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.) I took nearly the exact same class at UVSC before my mission, but it didn't transfer. I was bummed about that. But, this class has been a great refresher for me. I thought I'd post some of my work and show y'all what I've been creating. The picture above is my logos assignment. We were asked to create 3 logos for a business. Since I want to have my own photography business, I thought I'd create some logos for it. (P.S. I'm still working on my e-portfolio and photo blog. I'll be in Utah for the month of August, so if anyone wants some pictures taken or if you want to see some of my work, let me know.) I've also created a business card and brochure, which I will probably post later.

Independence Day

I went down to Utah for the holiday. It was a nice, relaxing break. It really felt odd for a few reasons though. One, the 4th was on a Sunday, so the celebrations were spread out over the course of a couple of days. Two, there weren't very many members of our family around. Holidays are definitely more fun when there are a bunch of people to celebrate with. Nevertheless, Dad helped us celebrate in style. He was very patriotic this year! First things first, he hung an American flag in my room. He also hung a flag outside, along with a patriotic banner across the garage door and ribbons outside the house. Saturday night he blasted Patriotic songs from the bedroom window so the neighbors could listen as they did fireworks. On Sunday he clipped an American flag to the car door.

The only downside of the weekend was that I fell and hurt my foot. Right as Dad came to pick me up (I got a ride from the ride board), I stepped off the curb and, well, biffed it. My water bottle in my backpack shattered. I was worried about my computer getting all wet. I was also worried about my camera in my duffle bag. Everything was fine. Everything except my foot, that is. I started walking and it hurt a bit. I woke up the next morning and it was pretty swollen and sore. By Sunday it was fine, though. I was so glad.

We had a nice dinner on Sunday, thanks to Mom. After that we just hung out and watched "A capital 4th" on TV. Mom and Dad's neighbors blasted their Hispanic music, which was kind of funny (perhaps even a bit disrespectful to do that on Independence Day).

We visited Grandma on Monday. For the first time in my life of 24 years, I saw her with gray hair! She has dyed her hair for years and years, but has now decided to stop. After we visited her I headed back to Rexburg so I can finish the last two weeks of the semester.

I Love Being an Aunt

My phone rang this morning. My caller ID said it was Traci. I picked it up, said "hello" and didn't hear anything back. It was silent for a few seconds. I realized it must be my niece. I said her name and she started talking. She then hung up. I called Traci back and she told me what happened. Apparently my niece told her, "I'm going to call Carrie." So, Traci was probably like, "ok, sure." Sure enough, my niece picked up the phone and called me! I guess she did it all by herself! This little girl is almost three! I don't know if it was by accident or what, but it was cute!

Earlier this week I had the chance to talk to all of my nieces and nephews on the same day. (All but the newborn, that is). That was so fun. They are all at such fun ages. My little nephew who is almost three started crying when I told him I had to hang up. It was so sweet.

I'm looking forward to next month. I have a break from school and I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit all of my nieces and nephews during that time. I will get to meet my newest niece as well.

I really love being an aunt. It's great!