HAPPY jaycey BIRTHDAY!

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My little sister turned 17.

She's so little. I don't think she'll ever grow up.

ha ha.

just kidding.

i think she's coming along just well.

Happy Birthday, and many to you.

It Found Me

Before I tell some fun stories, I want to post about something that kinda scared me today.

Last night I got all my homework done at 10:30. Yes, I did it on the Sabbath. Sorry to those of you whom that offends. But I was proud of myself for finishing that early. Usually I put it off forever, but good ol' Amanda was being such a good example that I decided to study with her in the kitchen (also, I would have been bored if I didn't study anyways).

But then Megan came home. And we stayed up watching Stargate until 1 AM, I think. I should've gone to bed, but oh well. Mondays I don't have any classes in the morning, just an institute class, so I wasn't too worried about skipping one day of it. I promised myself not to stay up so late again (just like I always promise myself).

I set my alarm for institute anyways just in case I felt rested enough in time to go. If I still wanted to sleep, I thought I should still at least wake up to tell Megan that I wasn't going with her. Just a courtesy alarm.

So I texted Megan. But then I couldn't fall back to sleep. So 10 minutes before I had to start walking to make it on time, I changed my mind and decided to go to institute.

Keep that in mind while I update you on what happened Wednesday in institute.

On Wednesday I went to Doctrines of the Gospel with Megan and Amanda. Megan recommended this class because it is taught by Brother Jacobs, one of her favorite instructors. And I trust her, so I followed my instincts of trust and followed her into a classroom full of people even though it would probably get hot and sweaty and stinky in there before class was over (it didn't).

Brother Jacobs wanted everyone's picture, and so sections of the class would leave during the lesson to get their pictures taken in the hall. When I finally got in line, I was thinking to myself, "I bet I could walk back into the classroom without anyone noticing that I didn't get my picture taken."

So I tried it out to see if I could do it. I put on my sly suit and turned right as someone passed me on their way back into the class, and I followed behind them at a leisurely pace. I don't think anyone noticed. I was thrilled at such a stupid accomplishment, because hey, I love being sneaky, and this really wasn't hurting anything. I was sure that Brother Jacobs would recognize my face when he realized that he didn't have my picture.

I also didn't sign the role because I wasn't registered for the class yet and I didn't want to make the secretaries register me just because I was lazy (they would try to register me if I wrote my name on the role).

So that was Wednesday.

Today in Doctrines of the Gospel, Brother Jacobs opened by calling out certain names and telling those people to go register because the class was closing and no one else could enroll after that (because the class was too full). One of the girls (my obnoxious roommate Frankenstein with the voice of a booming supersonic explosion that will deafens the heavens) really was registered even though she was on the list, so she didn't go. But I DID go, because I didn't want to be kicked out of the class for procrastinating.

And while I was going over there, I thought to myself that I should just go back home and go back to bed so I could find a different institute class to take on Mondays and Wednesdays. But for some reason I didn't. I stuck around to risk getting caught as the girl without her name on the list who's being sneaky and signing up.

Luckily the registrar secretary ladies just counted the number of names on the list and registered me.

On my way back to the class, I could not help realizing how lucky I was that everything had just worked out...at least for now. I hope Brother Jacobs doesn't find out and tell on me.

But the lesson today gave me the answers I have been praying for for a long time. It was a HUGE deal, because this lesson proved to me that I'm not crazy and that I really believe in the CJCLDS. It verified one experience for me, and in that experience, it verified so many wonderful truths that I was thinking...

I almost missed out on that.

I risked missing out on that lesson.

I nearly missed out on that because I keep listening to the big voice inside my head that tells me to do stupid things just for the heck of doing it. I keep trying to be sneaky and tricky about things that don't matter, only here's the thing:

Everything matters.

So many things added up to distract me from going to institute and hearing that lesson. Not putting my name on the role. Not getting my picture taken. Staying up. If Frankenstein didn't register. Almost going back to bed. Not registering. Almost going back home...

I'm so glad that somehow it all worked out, because that lesson found me. I'm so glad it found me against everything that it was working against.

And I AM even 20 now!

No one's gonna tell people about my accomplishments and say:

"And she's not even 20 yet!"

That is a happy fact, because it always embarrasses me, as much as I appreciate people thinking that I'm awesome enough to brag about that way. But the truth is that I'm not that awesome. I'm just stubborn. Ha ha.

August 28th was my 20th birthday. I got awesome cards from my family, lots of wall-writings on facebook, tons of texts and voicemail, an email from China, and an AWESOME surprise that I totally wasn't expecting.

I came home from school (disappointed that my class was a let down because we didn't have a quiz and we discussed everything I had already memorized about the history of the management of organizations and people, so it was super boring), and I was caught up in my own little world of texting and iPod music/dancing on my way to my room. I standing next to my bed when I took my backpack off, and as I lifted it to put on my bed, I realized there was something there, something that I didn't put there. I got a little scared because of the foreign object in my room, so I stepped back and realized that there were LOTS of foreign objects in my room.

there was a posterboard with writing on it that i couldn't comprehend in my stunnedness, balloons in my favorite colors, a large white box with real ribbon on it, and a card. So naturally, I said

Whoa.

And I stared at it for a couple of seconds, trying to read the posterboard. After a few tries, I finally focused enough to remember the alphabet and how to read words. It was a happy birthday surprise!

I came out of my room and looked down the hall and Amanda was standing there with a big grin on her face, then Megan popped her little joyful head out of her room and we all went back in my room to unwrap my present and read my card.

The card was BEAUTIFUL. and the present ROCKED. lots of scrapbooking paper and stamps and some runner glue refills (always desperately needed!) and oh my goodness it was all so perfect i couldn't contain my joy. i think i hugged those twins at LEAST a dozen times each and i couldn't stop jumping up and down.

then cassie came over and we went to tandoori oven. YUM!

then andee came up and we made cards and had confetti cake and aggie ice cream and watched 50 first dates (FUN! YUM! YUM! FUN!)

and...i'm tired so i will blog more later. but my 20th birthday totally knocked my socks off, and while i was sad that i didn't have everyone there, the people who WERE there made it a birthday that i will never forget. :)

Managing Pregnancy

So I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE love LOVE my management of organizations and people course (stats can die, and hip hop hasn't really started yet).

This summer, I had a Fundamentals of Marketing course that was about 3 hours long EVERY DAY. Anyone who knows me realizes that I cannot sit still and be quiet for that long.

But

This class was discussion based, the instructor had great stories and props, and it was pretty much playtime based learning! It was awesome, and so was the material.

Now this management class...it is even BETTER! Today my professor made a chef hat out of printer paper, wore it, and explained how management is like baking cookies. I could barely contain my excitement when I discovered his great sense of humor as he concluded by saying, "Man, that makes me hungry. Does that make you hungry? Talking about management?"

Let me tell you, that is not the best joke he had today. I am very pleased with my investment in this course. And my minor in marketing. I am very pleased. Statistics courses will be worth the effort.

Next topic.

(Disclosure: I'm being inappropriate and saying that I am a virgin, and I don't plan on changing that fact until I marry. Hopefully since this is in parenthesis, it will not be such an inappropriate thing to say on my blog. Keep this fact in mind as you continue reading.)

If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was pregnant.

Let me tell you why.

My sense of smell is very acute and has been for a while. Let me tell you, for as many delicious smells as there are in the world, there are at least 7 horrible smells. It's a 1:7 ratio, trust me.

I will give you an example of one of my meals in the past 3 days. Most of my meals have been this involved. First stage: full Totino's combination pizza. Second stage: hamburger, pineapple, chips, cookie, watermelon, another cookie. Third stage: strawberries. Fourth stage: Coldstone. 5th stage: strawberries. I still wasn't full. Go figure. I remember saying to my friends at one point: "Does anyone else feel sick?" But that moment passed in less than two minutes and I was starving again.

My period stopped. (Whoops...forgot the disclosure this time...hmm.) Perhaps this is just a coincidence, but still.

And last but not least, I had slight morning sickness. I mean, yes, I usually feel sick when I eat breakfast, but this sickness prevented me from eating breakfast at all.

Yesterday I had a mood swing toward the deep dark dense depths of depression. I am most wonderfully happy today. I think pregnant women have mood swings like this, but it might just be because they are women and have nothing to do with the fact that they are pregnant.

Next topic.

Question to everyone reading this (my roomies and I have discussed this to a certain degree):

How tall does a bowl have to be to be considered a cup? (*Notice the two To Be's in that sentence. Weird, but it's correct.)