"Strengths"

So, in my Life Planning and Decision Making class, we're discussing values and strengths and whatnot... One of the assignments for this week was to go to this website (registration is required, but free) and take the VIA Signature Strengths Survey. It's 240 questions and is supposed to take 15-20 minutes (I took longer because I'm so dang indecisive). Anyways, I thought it was interesting and since I'm so behind on posts, I figured I might as well blog it. If you find out something new about me, you should leave a comment about it. It might help me with the assignment which is due on Thursday. Your (my) Top Strength

Kindness and generosity You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

Your Second Strength

Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme. Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.

Your Third Strength

Forgiveness and mercy You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

Your Fourth Strength

Gratitude You are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. Your friends and family members know that you are a grateful person because you always take the time to express your thanks.

Your Fifth Strength

Capacity to love and be loved You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

Strength#6

Modesty and humility You do not seek the spotlight, preferring to let your accomplishments speak for themselves. You do not regard yourself as special, and others recognize and value your modesty.

Strength#7

Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate, you always do your share, and you work hard for the success of your group.

Strength#8

Fairness, equity, and justice Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.

Strength#9

Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.

Strength#10

Perspective (wisdom) Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.

Strength#11

Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.

Strength#12

Bravery and valor You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.

Strength#13

Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness You expect the best in the future, and you work to achieve it. You believe that the future is something that you can control.

Strength#14

Leadership You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included. You do a good job organizing activities and seeing that they happen.

Strength#15

Social intelligence You are aware of the motives and feelings of other people. You know what to do to fit in to different social situations, and you know what to do to put others at ease.

Strength#16

Caution, prudence, and discretion You are a careful person, and your choices are consistently prudent ones. You do not say or do things that you might later regret.

Strength#17

Love of learning You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

Strength#18

Appreciation of beauty and excellence You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

Strength#19

Humor and playfulness You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

Strength#20

Curiosity and interest in the world You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

Strength#21

Zest, enthusiasm, and energy Regardless of what you do, you approach it with excitement and energy. You never do anything halfway or halfheartedly. For you, life is an adventure.

Strength#22

Industry, diligence, and perseverance You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you "get it out the door" in timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.

Strength#23

Self-control and self-regulation You self-consciously regulate what you feel and what you do. You are a disciplined person. You are in control of your appetites and your emotions, not vice versa.

Strength#24

Creativity, ingenuity, and originality Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible. HAHA, I love how it says my "24th strength..." when in all reality, it just means I'm severely lacking in "creativity, ingenuity, and originality" and "Self-control and self-regulation." Although I don't really know how acturate those are... eh, whatever.

my weekend

SO, Hayley and Bo came up for their spring break (which BYU doesn't offer... what's up with that? Not that I'm complaining, the sooner I'm out of here, the better) and they invited me to spend the night at the house of those who they were visiting (sounds weird, especially since I have no connection to them, but it was really fun and totally chill.) A well needed break from the monotony that is my apartment. I drove there in horizontal-flying snow. That was an interresting experience. Saturday night, we played Rock Band, which if you've never played before, I highly recommend it. If you've never heard of it, it's like Guitar Hero, but with 2 guitars (one guitar, one bass) drums and a microphone for singing. If you've never heard of guitar hero, well, I can't really help you there. After a hearty helping of Rock Band, we watched The Forgotten; it was pretty good, I got a couple of good jumps out of the more suddenly-scary spots.
It was nice sleeping in on Sunday, we had French toast for breakfast, which was good. They had the animated bible stories on dvd, which I grew up with, so it was almost like being home. :) We watched Daniel, Ester, and Moses. Church was at 1, (I normally have it at 9) and sitting through Sacrament made me remember how peaceful student wards are. I guess it didn't help that I was severely distracted by the cutest little girl with fat cheeks and curly brown hair who kept wandering up and down the isle.
Answer me this; why is it that when I have a comment to make all throughout Sunday School, I can't just raise my hand and say it? I mean, I almost felt like I was waiting for the right moment, because I found it right after the right moment... But then I wonder, was it good that I didn't make it? I mean, some people get totally bugged when you go back to topics that have already been covered, but then again, the comment/scripture I had was kind of all-encompassing for the over-all message of the lesson. You know what? I'm going way to far into this... Long story short; I had an insightful comment all throughout sunday school and I never raised my hand to say it.
After church, we played this game called Ticket to Ride which was pretty great. I won by 2 points... beginners luck, I guess. It's one of those games that is really fun as long as people don't get too competitive or offended if you take the route they secretly wanted as well. (I really don't like playing games with severely competitive people. They take all the fun out of it. Sorry if you're one of those people.) It reminded me of The Settlers of Catan. Anyways, good times. Dinner was really good, spaghetti, tortellini, garlic bread and some sort of sausage. Rice Krispy treats for dessert... I love rice krispy treats; they made me want to make some. Good stuff. Anyways, here's Hayley and I after Church

We look somewhat formal looking... odd. Anyways, it was lots of fun. The family sent me home with very good cookies and my roommates consumed them faster than I thought possible. And the best part is, I didn't think about school once the whole time I was there which was delightful.

Defeating Death

You'll notice I haven't posted in a few days... (despite my 100-posts-by-one-year-mark) well, that's because I spent the weekend on deaths door. Or not, but my story will sound much more adventurous from that perspective so, just go with it.
Update on my health; Thursday, I was supervising women’s basketball and it was going ridiculously slow and I told the participants I was sick so they’d be nice to me. There was a forfeit my second hour so I laid down on the other court behind the supervisor’s table and the refs said they would look out for me. I don’t know if I ever actually fell asleep cuz I was on the wooden floor and I could feel everyone running and the balls bouncing and my head was pounding… oh wow. I was lying on the floor… (Sigh) when I’m sick, my awareness of sanitation goes out the window… Anyways, third hour, there was this punk of a husband who got on my back for missing ONE point when I was explaining how to keep score to the scorekeeper, and when I asked all of the spectators to go to the stands (they’re not supposed to be on the court for “safety reasons”) the husband didn’t go. So I turned around and asked him if he was planning on going to the stands and he said, “Are you planning on keeping track of the score? Cuz you already messed up on that one.” And in my head I was like, “Oh no you didn’t!! I am sick and I was busy at the time the shot was made and I put it on the scoreboard about 4 seconds after it was made, so you can GET OFF MY BACK OR GET OUT OF MY GYM!” But as Phil (my boss) always says, “no one can misinterpret silence” so I turned around and ignored him. About 10 seconds later, when he hadn’t left, I turned around and gave him a “you’re still here” look until he turned around to go to the stands. I was seriously bugged. So I basically hated on that team for the rest of the game. In my head. It’s not like I jacked their score or anything. Anyways, 4^th hour there was a forfeit so I packed up to go. Oh, in the gym, I was wearing 5 layers, the outermost 2 were a sweater and my heavy coat and I was still freezing. Lame. So when I walked outside to put the stuff away in the RB, my vision started blacking out around the edges and I started freaking out, but I just kept telling myself that I’d be warm in the RB soon.
When I finally got home, I walked in the door and just started crying because I was so miserable and Sarah came running after me asking what was wrong and I told her everything and she felt my face and said we should take my temperature. So we did. 103.0 my friend. Heck yes. By then, Natalie had come in and they started freaking out at calmly as possible (ironic?) saying things like, “oh my gosh, do we need to take her to the hospital?” so I started freaking out less calmly of course, (I don't think my head was in the right place) and I called my mom and told her and then I sensed the panic in her voice and I really started freaking out and she told me to calm down and take a cool shower to try and bring the temperature down. So I did and bawled the whole time and when I got out my Aunt, Tammy, who’s a nurse, was calling me and she told me what to do/take and all that good stuff. Then Sarah’s boyfriend, Tate, and Natalie’s friend Matt gave me a blessing and then Tate and Sarah went to the grocery store to get me some Tylenol and Vicks vaporub and ice cream (to bring down my temperature, of course…) and picked up No Reservations from red box. That’s a good one. I enjoyed it. Anyways, I went to sleep sometime around 1, woke up at 10:30, went to the bathroom, drank some water (Nurse Tammy told me I was dehydrated) and then went back to sleep and woke up at 3:30. I had 9 missed calls so I checked my messages and called everyone.
I relaxed all friday, started writing back to Mike's last letter from my birthday package, painted my nails, and watched The labyrinth. (wow...) I wasn't going to eat except for that I realized I hadn't eaten anything all day because I wasn't hungry, so I made some soup and ate that...
Moral of the story; I defeated death. And a moronic husband who seriously bugged.
SMILE!

The results are in.

So today was the big day (well, a big day in a series of big days that I'm sure I'll go through here at BYU). I had a music 101 test covering the "Classical Era." After cramming as much information on Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven as I possibly could, I walked knowingly to the almost overwhelming doom that awaited me at the Heber J. Grant building (aka, the TESTING CENTER). I called my dad on the way (as I always do), told him my predicament and asked him to pray. Pray that somehow, Heavenly Father would be gracious enough to bless me, the procrastinating college student, with the knowledge I knew I didn't have. When I picked up my test and paid my late fee of $5 (why do they charge late fees on the last day of the test? Because they are Nazi's!) (Only I don't really believe that, I just severely dislike the idea of paying to take a test for a class that I've already paid for. I'm sorry), they told me to finish the second half first and then to come back because all of the MP3 players that are needed for the first half/listening portion of my test were being used. So I said my own prayer, did the second half, then went back to get my MP3 player where I realized there were 10 other people waiting there in my same situation. So I waited in line for about 15 minutes, got my MP3, and answered 22 of the 25 questions when my MP3 froze. I tried play/pause, power on/off, nothing. So, I had to go back and get another one to finish my last three questions. And the whole thing was annoying because I knew I was failing the dang test that I had paid $5 to take. Normally, I would only check my score if I knew I got an A or if I knew I failed (occasionally I surprise myself). If there's even a hope of my passing, I don't look because it's almost always lower than I think it is. Or I fail. And who needs that ruining their day? Not I. Anyways, I knew I had failed, so I looked to see how bad it was. 74%. As in 74% out of 100%. Not only is that passing, but that's a good passing compared to thinking I had failed for sure. Smile upon my face, (I'm easy to please as far as grades go) I took a water/ladies room break and then sat down to prepare for my Book of Mormon quiz covering Helaman-3 Nephi 11. I ate my Yoplait Orange Creme Yogurt and my Strawberry Nutri-Grain bar (because a college brain doesn't work very well when it doesn't have any nutrients supporting it, or when there's a growling stomach distracting it) and sat down to answer the remaining study questions. About 2 hours later, I had finished reading and reviewing all of the material that would be covered and I headed in, feeling fairly confident that I could take it for free today vs. paying to take it tomorrow (which I didn't have time to do anyways). About 15 minutes later, I walked out and checked my score (still fairly confident, you see,) and a 92%. Hoo-Rah for me! I walked home in a much more pleasant attitude than I had walked to campus with earlier that day despite the biting wind that was freezing my face and the hand that was holding my phone telling my dad the news.

I've given up on Lent. I discovered there wasn't really a point anymore. I wasn't losing weight (not like I expected the pounds to just fall off or something,) and I was consuming more supplemental sweets in non-chocolate form than I otherwise would have. Plus, I still have tons of chocolate from my birthday, and birthday Chocolate milk that would have gone bad had it been neglected for too much longer. So, yesterday after waking up from a 4 hour nap (yeah, I probably should have been studying for that music test...) and saw that Sarah had just made chocolate chip cookies that were sitting oh-so-lovely and warm on the oven, I made the swift decision to drop it. But this much I will say, I did lose a lot of my cravings and I developed a lot of self control during my choco-free month. So my over all crap-consumption rate should go down. "Should" being the key word there.

Tomorrow I'm going to observe at the BYU pre-school for my FofDAP class, and then head on over to Farrer Elementary to Tutor the lovely children of Ms. Tomlinson's 3rd grade class during their reading hour. I'll let you all know how that turns out.

Flu season = Midterm season.

Why is that always the case? I have every typical symptom in the book... sinus headache, congestion, sore throat, cough --> sore muscles everywhere, that heavy feeling in your chest, and I can't seem to get warm except for my head. My head is really warm, but my body feels freezing. And I don't have any ibuprofen left because I used the last of it on my sore back. Which is still sore. Luckily, Andrea just called and was buying some antibiotics for Karalee Jo who has double ear infections (this is her 2nd one in 6 weeks, but the doctor won't put tubes in until she's had at least 4 ear infections (E.I.) within 6 months... poor little. Brooklyn had the same problem and hasn't had a single E.I. since they put the tubes in her ears.) and she said she'd pick up a new bottle of Ibuprofen for me. It is such a blessing to have Andrea as close as she is. I like to think that we're both a blessing to each other. Anyways, I had my semesterly interview scheduled with my boss today, plus a staff meeting, and then work, which luckily (again...) I was scheduled to be in the one gym that always has two supervisors. So I called the secretary and asked her to talk to my boss and see if it was ok that I didn't do any of those things. Call me a slacker, tell me to suck it up, but seriously, it hurts to move and I'm exhausted. And I don't have the time to be sick forever. I need to get better as soon as I possibly can. I have a Music 101 test to take tomorrow which I have yet to find the time to study for and a Book of Mormon quiz (ditto to the above). Add all the reading and assignments that I have and I'm basically done.

Done venting. Thanks for reading if you still are. I will say that I'm extremely grateful that I was healthy for my birthday. I prayed for that all last week and I got it, so thank Heavenly Father for that one. My next post will be less depressing, I promise, but for now, this is what you get.

real quick

I just noticed that in 25 days I will have occupied this blog for one year. I have posted 75 posts. If I blog once a day for the next 25 days, I will have 100 posts by my one year mark. I wonder if I could even do that? We'll see...

Happy Birthday to ME!

This was me one year ago yesterday! Note the balloons in the background...
And here was me yesterday! On my birthday!!


How did my wonderful day go? Wonderfully. I spent the night before at Andrea's house, went to bed at 1:30 ish, got a phone call from a good friend back home at 1:45 and then really went to bed at 2. Except for that my back was killing me again. Like the same way my back hurt in one of my very first posts... (remember Garrards? the whole "pregnant" issue...) Anyways, Andrea got me a hot water bottle to lay on and a couple Tylenol... I think I finally got to sleep midway between 2 and 3. I awoke to Brooklyn crawling all over me, ready to sing to me around 8. Exciting stuff. We watched an episode of TLC's What not to wear, tvo-ed of course. Then we got ready for the day and went to Magleby's for breakfast where I had a HUGE stack of the best french toast I've ever eaten with fresh berries and cream and honey syrup on the side. (it's endless too, so if you've got big eaters, they keep bringing them out) SOOO GOOD!!! If y'all are ever in the Provo/Orem area, you should DEFINATLY check it out. After breakfast, we went back to Andrea's house and played on the swing in a neighbor's backyard, which, apparently is a totally chill thing to do in Springville.
Me and Karalee Jo. She's a chub.



Here's me and Brooklyn. She was laughing... we had fun.
I went home mid-afternoon to a beautifully clean apartment and a lovely display for my birthday! And because it was my birthday, I got chocolate (lent-free holiday) and I'll tell you what, I got a lot of it. So, I showered and got ready for the evening, and then went with the roommates to dinner at Goodwood bbq. Not as highly recommended as Magleby's, but fairly decent. After dinner and a surprise dessert, we went to the dollar to see Enchanted. We laughed hysterically the whole time!! it was pretty cheesy, but cute. After the movie, we came back to the apartment to open presents and to eat Pizookies.

Note:Chocolate covered Cinnamon bears, Reese's Easter Eggs, Toblerones (my absolute favorite), you can't tell, but there's Oreo's in the green thing, and you can barely see the end of a Symphony (almonds and toffee) bar on the far left. Also, the picture of me in the red frame is my drivers license picture... bah haha
Checkin out the menu. Nice Candid shot by Jacey Lynn.

"FOR ME?!"

Compliments of Grandma C.

Because I'm always stealing Casey Jo's to do my make up in the front room. (it's a mirror)

"For your current and future home" -Casey Jo



Good times. It was SUCH a good day, and I didn't feel my back at all until after dessert when I could barely walk to my room to go to bed. I downed 4 ibuprofen and said a prayer and fell asleep pretty quickly. sigh. It was a lovely birthday.