#Finals

Well look at me, forgetting to blog again. This week I ran around in circles screaming and chasing my tail, as it is the second to last week of classes, meaning everything stressful is due in a matter of days. For some reason that also means 2% of students have decided to become social butterflies at the exact inappropriate time. 

"Alright guys finals are coming up, don't talk to me if I even remotely look like I'm studying."

"Yeh totally I respect that, but do you mind if I invite over friends to just hang out at our apt every day this week?" 

"No, I need to study they will be loud."

"Ok great theyre coming over at 5" 

And thus the library extended hours were born. 

The same thing goes with professors too. 

"Oh hi teacher classes are almost over, I just have to study for the final and then I can go home, peace of cake right?" 

"Haha yes yes it's all very easy, listen I know youve worked hard and earned good grades so far this semester so why don't I give you a huge project due the last day of class worth almost half your grade?" 

"No that isn't that cool actually, I thought the bulk of my grade was supposed to come from the bulk of class that I worked so hard on, and you know finals take a long time to study for in order to do well on them." 

"Great great I knew you would agree, all the other professors know this is exactly what you need right now too"

"....." *keils over and dies. 

So, moral of the story end of the semester is unreasonably hard for no logical reason. 

Now, well actually I have no solution to this. Not an effective one technically, I let myself buy snacks at the end of the semester because comfort, I mean brain, food helps right? If you find a solution to end the stressful madness of finals you should let me know. But until then I will get by on the knowledge that somebody, probably you, has it worse than I. 

~Birdy

#Crochet

I FINALLY MADE TIME TO FINISH MY CROCHET OCTOPUS PROJECT!!!!!

So a few months ago (before school started) I started a crochet animal but then school started and I didn't have time to finish it until recently.

This is what I made, in a tutorial video! Enjoy.

This is what I made, in a tutorial video! Enjoy.
Also, I've decided I like making these tutorial videos for crochet, and I will be making more in the future. Even though this one wasnt all that great I will learn and get better at making them, because I love doing it.

And this is what I will be making next:

~Birdy

#greek

So today, actually at this moment while I am typing, I am "listening" to a guest lecturer speak on... We'll something. He is saying something about why ancient literature on how Hannibal crossing the Andes mountains is significant for something. In case you havn't noticed I have entirely lost interest in this lecture, mainly because most of it is in greek and latin and partly because I don't see the point in this lecture. He is talking about a man taking an army across a mountain, and the purpose of the speech has nothing to do with war tactics or overcoming mountains.

But more importantly I noticed his method of delivery is dry. Listening to this man ramble on about... something made me wonder why positive psychologists are more entertaining to listen to than ancient historians. Then I thought of my communications class (because that is the subject on which I am pondering, why one communicator is successful and he other not so). Why are historians lacking in communication while therapists communicate wonderfully on average? I suppose I can't generalize that far.

My conclusion is that historians don't try to connect to their audience or to draw them in, they assume if the audience wants to listen they will just automatically listen and follow the historians content. I think therapists overcome this easily by their subject matter. Therapists are always talking about how humans work, and si their first sentence always goes something like, " im going to tell you how you or your friends work," which all of us are interested in and so we listen. Historians don't have that advantage, they should tell us at the beginning what their material has to do with us, either as an individual or as a human race, to attract our attention.

I guess what I really learned today is how important it is to connect with your audience.

~Birdy

#Exercise

Warning: this one is pretty personal and slightly dramatic if you can't respect that then you should not read this.

I cant emphasize enough how important excercise is, and also how important leisure is, to every individual's lifestyle.

These past two weeks have been really hard, I fractured my ankle (I thought I sprained it but I guess not) and so I couldn't run on the treadmill anymore. The first two-three days were itchy, I just itched to workout. The next week I had symptoms similar to depression. One day I sat in my room and just felt awful about everything. I didn't see the bright side of anyone or anything. To be honest with you, sitting around my apartment for that long made me feel lazy and fat. Before you go thinking this is all really dramatic for not working out for a week I want you to know this isnt unique to these past few weeks. Sometimes I do get feelings of depression and hello I'm a girl, I am very concious about whether I am doing things to help me gain or loose weight. But none of these things are ever clinically significant enough to diagnose me with anything. These are just feelings that just happen.

I want you to think about your everyday feelings and really notice where you tend to average, most of us (yes even including me) average around ok. Now I'm telling you when I started working out regularly I started averaging "good" better even, closer to "great." But I didn't notice really until it changed, until I couldn't work out anymore. Eventually I made it to the pool and worked out there instead of running and I felt the difference immediately after I finished. Breathing felt better, I felt happy, I felt good about myself, my stress levels went down, and I felt sexy and heathy. It was fantastic

Exercising is so good for you it makes you feel better and cope better with everything you're facing. It is a small change in every aspect of how you feel that feels like a huge difference. Oh and I think it's supposed to be healthy or something. Please just try it it will make you feel better even if its just for one day, you'll be glad you did!

~Birdy

#Fieldtrip

Yesterday I went to an internship fair/networking event for my major and it was the coolest thing of my career searching experience thus far.

What I mean is there isn't usually booths at career fairs for anything related to my field. So being able to walk into a room with 10+ opportunities relevant to my field was like walking into a candy store.

There were so many places that were genuinely interested in me, places that used adventure therapy and places in provo, places that use all sorts of interventions and serve a variety of populations. I met people who use my favorite things as therapy and they gave me their number to call them. It was super exciting

By the end I didn't have the mindset of struggling to find a place to volunteer this summer, I left trying to plan out how I could intern at two different places both of which I am really excited to work with and with which to gain more experience.

Here's to a bright looking future!
~Birdy

#Prison

So today I went to the psychiatric hospital and volunteered in their forensics unit. Basically, I went to the mental hospital prison. Willingly. 

And it was awesome!

So back up a little bit, ever since I can remember I've always wanted to help out the people in prison. There were multiple occasions where I asked my parents, youth leaders etc. if we could bring the criminals cookies and cheer the way we bring the old folks cookies and cheer. All I wanted to do was help. So, when I found out that recreational therapists can help the people in jail I got really really really excited. And this week when I found out I was going to be able to go into a jail unit I got really really excited. 

Then today I actually got to go in, and it was awesome. 

I walked up to the building into the waiting room and the intercom came on and said step forward, locked the door behind me, verified my identification and had me walk through another door that locked behind me. I was in! Life-long dream accomplished. I'm not sure if non-psychiatric jail units are less welcoming than the building I stepped into (which part of me is sure they are dismal and part of me is open to a homey feeling jail). Anyway it was pretty nice in there. I started out playing in a PE group in the gym, and then we did an art group, and then it was time for me to go. We played lightening, and I got to take care of the art room and supervise the patients while they expressed themselves through art. 

I had a great time. 

Part of me was surprised at how normal they all were, we played ball just like me and my non-convicted friends would play. We laughed and made jokes the same way my "normal" friends would make jokes. They were really good at art. They have feelings to express, and those feelings came out in the form of heroes and gods and flowers and mountains. It was beautiful. The walls of their living areas are lined with puzzles they've completed. Perhaps they have made bad choices, some even very very bad choices, but they also are human beings. They have a soul and emotions and mental illnesses that require help, care, and attention. That's what I saw today. I saw people, they need somebody, and I have a stronger desire now to help them than I did before.

~Birdy

#ImAmormon

So today on campus I saw a man wearing a shirt that said, "I can't, I'm mormon." (at a school mostly comprised of mormons)

That shirt is just so incredibly wrong. There is nothing, aside from a good conscience, keeping us mormons from doing anything. It'd be the same as wearing a shirt that says, "I can't jump off a cliff, my mom won't let me."

Being a mormon doesn't mean I can't do things, it means I choose not to do things I have been informed are bad for me. It's not that I can't drink alcohol or some mysterious power will shame me and burn me, I know alcohol is poison and so I choose not to drink it. It isn't that I can't have fun on sunday; it's that I know there is a God in heaven who is my father, which means that I have a spiritual side of me that needs attention in order to live healthy and happy so I choose to devote one day a week (~15% of my week) to my spiritual needs. I don't have sex before marriage not because I'm a prude, but because I know that that level of initimacy is meant to be between two people who will never leave each other, who will stay and support each other, and who have already promised their commitment to one another through a ceremony (kind've exactly like marriage) and so I choose to wait and use it properly. It isn't that, as a mormon, I can't do stupid things, I just choose not to do stupid things.

And it really frustrates me that people seem to really focus on what mormons don't do, what about all the things we excel at? Being a mormon means you are part of the most caring community, and the best support system ever invented. We pride ourselves on the large amounts of service we do, we have a special committe dedicated to it actually like seven, one for the teenage women, teenage men, children, and two for the adult women and adult men. People check up on me randomly, just to see how I'm doing and if there is anything they can do to make life better. We have a stereotype for caseroles, because whenever anything happens to anyone we bake them a caserole (childbirth, hospital trips, sniffles- we got you covered). No matter what happens in my life, somebody has my back and I've got anyone else's back. It really is a fantastic way of living.

Stop focusing on what I don't do, I have chosen not to do those things. Focus on the things I do do, and take advantage of it- I got your back and I would love to help you out.

~Birdy

#cougars!!!!

Today is the homecoming game, and my midterm. I was planning on waking up early because I really wanted to go to the pancake bakfast and watch the parade. But, I stayed up really late and so sleep was more important. Then, to my surprise as I was walking to the testing center, these cars with balloons came strolling by; it was the parade! So I watched for a bit and then went to take my test.

I was super glad that I got the chance to watch the parade, I have all these plans, goals, and good intentions that get trampled on by the rest of life. (Usually they get pushed out of the way by tings such as school and family and eating on a regular basis, you know higher priority items.) But this was one of those blessings where I got to do something I didn't think I would get the chance to do, and it was great.

I suppose the moral of the story is to not get too bent out of shape over all the things you can't get to, and to be greatful for the times, though they may be few, that you can do everything you wanted to.

~Birdy

#TR

Therapeutic recreation is my life; literally it is my passion, major, and career.

In case you don't know what therapeutic recreation is, it is another form/theory/branch of therapy that uses recreation as it's main tool. Sometimes play is just inherantly therapeutic, sometimes it is overcoming challenges that raises the individual to another level, sometimes it is relating the activity to the patient's life that helps them get through their struggles, and sometimes it is the skills learned in play that the individual needed in order to progress. For example, a child with any sort of disability may only need a hobby or a group of friends to play with to obtain a normal level of well-being. A juvenile might just need to learn how to play a game (like bowling) to give them something to do other than rob stores. Maybe the same juvenile needs to learn patience, perhaps through fishing, in order to function at a higher level. There is a recovery program called addicts to athletes that replaces addictions to drugs with addictions to running. These addicts come and run, and when they do they learn to do hard things, to overcome pain, and that there is reward in hard tasks and in health. These addicts learn skills, learn to build character, and relate their running challenges to their addiction challenges. Let me tell you it is a cool thing to watch. You can check out their program via their website: http://addicttoathlete.org/

Recently I've been volunteering with addicts to athletes, and this past week I've had a lot of really good, inspiring moments with therapeutic recreation.
The first was on tuesday during the athletes weekly meeting/workout they really just touched my heart on all levels. There were a couple athletes who got up and told about their experience with running for kids with disabilities. This is where I found out that these addicts that turn into athletes mostly run charity races, they give and they give and they love it. There were some men who told about pushing wheelchairs while they run their races and I was so touched by their stories of their experiences because they have gone above and beyond the mark, they don't just run for their own recovery anymore, or to stay in shape but they reach out and run for other people. These athletes have overcome their own challenges and are now taking on even harder things for children who can't walk.  That is huge progress and so giving of them; there arn't a lot of people I know without an addiction who would push a kid while they run. So I was really touched by their deeds and impressed at how far they have come.
The next one was a movie we watched in one of my recreation classes, "Radio." It's an inspiring movie about a boy with a mental disability who wanders around town quietly until the football coach lets him participate in the football team. Before you know it the boy goes from walking vegetable to fully-functioning adult who is only a little bit challenged mentally. I was inspired by how sports brought that boy out of his shell, and then I remembered other movies based on true stories like "The Blind Side," "Forest Gump," and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," where other boys improve/benefit dramatically as a result of recreation they take part in. This also really inspired me to the effectiveness of my field, and how recreation can really benefit people and improve the quality of their lives.

So, here I am now, more eager than ever to get out there and make a difference in others' lives'. I have more knowledge about how to help, and more proof than I thought I would get in college about the efficacy of my field. These experiences convinced me that my field is good, and I love my field so much more now than I did at the beginning of the week. I hope you also have a better appreciation in your heart for recreation therapy after reading these wonderful things it has done for other people.

~Birdy

#commonsense

So I love my current roommates, but sometimes I wonder what is going through their heads. (Like if they just hate me and want to see how agitated they can make me.)

What's funny is that this isn't just the roommates I'm currently living with. It seems that no matter how great of a group I live with (or how not-so-great a group) we always go through these very painful, and cyclical phases of not being on the same page, and getting mad because some body else has a different version of common sense installed in their brains. 

In the past (well ok maybe still a lot in the present...) I just thought that my roommates had been spoiled, that their parents never taught them how to coexist with other people, or that they were just plain dumb. (One time I had a roommate who was confused how the cold air in her room escaped into the rest of the apartment even though her door was closed. I guess she missed the part where the door didn't touch all the way to the ground, and didn't have a sealing material around it. Blew my mind.)

But, as these things happen more and more (overflowing trashcans, air conditioning on with the windows open, bobby pins and hair being left in the shower, people attempting to replace toilet paper but failing and leaving it on the floor by the toilet, refrigerated items being stored on top of the microwave...etc) I come to find that common sense doesn't exist. This isn't to say that everybody is dumb, (although sometimes it is really hard not to call them that) but rather to say that there is nothing common about it. Every single person I've shared housing with has had things that I thought were blatantly wrong and things that they seem to understand. Every single person has a different set of things they were taught (and not taught), and a different set of things they see as "ok."

Maybe one person had a home life where they never had to do dishes, and so they don't understand how to take time to do them and don't really care if they pile up. Another person might have lived in a home where their parents taught them to do the dishes as soon as the meal is over, thus keeping the sink forever clean. Person one would never understand why person two takes so much time to do something person one deems unnecessary. Meanwhile person two would be frustrated that person one leaves dishes in the sink. Who is right? Is it common sense to do the dishes as fast as they get dirty? Or is it unnecessary? That all depends on who you ask, proving that common sense isn't a common thing. 

The list of scenarios could go on and on, as I'm sure my fellow college students could attest. The point is that common sense is actually relative to that person's upbringing, experiences, and beliefs. Everybody has their limits on how messy a place can be and still be considered ok, how much is ok to spend on heat and air conditioning, how many days they will still eat their leftovers, etc. This perspective just makes it easier now for me to live with other people, knowing that they are probably doing something that is acceptable to their code of sense, even if it isn't acceptable in mine. Now I look at them and give them more lee-way and try to understand them before I label their actions stupid  in my mind.

That being said, winter is coming and I hate fighting over the heat. 

Create your own user feedback survey

~Birdy

#LifeisaJourney

So today I had a dear friend of mine turn to facebook pleading for advice because he hadn't figured out what he wanted to do with his life yet and he felt he should have everything planned out by now.

Wrong. For starters life doesn't ever have that smooth period our elementary teachers told us about. You know the one where becoming an adult instantly makes you mature, where getting a job is easy for whoever finished college, where life calms down? It's a lie. There are even people with jobs who don't know what their life is doing. There are "old" people at college. There are people who havn't ever gone to college who feel pretty secure in their lifestyles and choices. Most of the time stress about where your life is going is inevitable and it's ok.

Because life isn't a checklist. It's a journey.
It doesn't matter how fast you get a degree, or get a job, or get a house. It might be nice to have those things sooner than later, but it isn't the end of the world or even bad if you don't have those things as fast as you want or as fast as the people around you. What would the point be? College done by 22 check, got a job check, married by 30 check, own house by 28 check, 2 children check, retired by 60 check, died sometime after 80 check... And you have won the game folks! No. It isn't like that.
I went to class with a respectable man with a job and no address. He lived out of his van and he was like 28. He was happy, he had been living like that for three years. He has a great job. Why is he living out of his van? Because he loves to travel and climb. He spends his money on vacation and recreation instead of on a house. He isn't a failure, and he isn't homeless either.
I have multiple friends who havn't started school "on time" and they are just fine. Some took time to serve missions, some to travel, some to work, some to go to the army. They are not behind, they are just different. Just because they are not on the stereotypical path does not mean they are on the wrong path.

Which brings me back to my point. That life isn't about the checklist.
It is about progress, satisfaction, and happiness.
Think about it. Do you really care about the mansion, the 6-figure job, or the degree? When you die, if you could look at your life after it's over, will you really be bumed that you didn't finish college around the same time everybody else did? I highly doubt it. I think instead you would be really upset if you didn't take time to do what you love. I think you would look at all the things that brought you to the place you are now and the places you will yet go and be greatful for the tangents that helped you get to where you ended up being. I think you would regret not progressing, not growing into somebody better and wiser than who you were. Above all else, looking back on life you will regret not being happy and all the things you did to prevent yourself from being happy.

So change your perspective today. Stop worrying about figuring everything out right this second, stop worrying about not being in the same spot as somebody else. Look at yourself holistically- at the journey you are on instead of the exact point you are at now. Make sure you have enough for today and then focus on what is important. Focus on becoming a better, happier person.

~Birdy

#notime #freespirit

Wow, so this week has been a crazy busy week and I have done everything. (Almost literally everything.)

Somehow this week I managed to 1) workout every day 2) do a full 8-9 hours a day at school AND 3) still have time for baking and friends.
I honestly am not sure how that happened. but I did it. I did it all and I feel great.

My teachers (and almost literally the entire world) have told me time and time again that it is essential to take time for leisure, to take time to workout, and to take time for friends. I didn't think I had time for friends, so these past two years of college I have been sacrificing health, exercise, and much needed social time for homework. This year I am astounded at how wrong I was. I don't need naps this year and I don't know why. I don't get burned out so fast and I don't know why. I can focus better for longer making me much more efficient, and again, I don't know why. But I can guess. I'm guessing giving my body exercise, going to bed earlier, waking up earlier, and spending time with friends balance my body. Instead of forcing my body to run one specific type of task all day long until it literally can't focus enough to do it anymore, I give my body a break. I re-energize when I work out and spend time with friends. For some reason this makes me a healthier, happier, more efficient person.

I know, Intuitively it makes no sense. You would think that taking time to do other things would take time away from doing the things you need to do like work and homework. I'm not pretending to understand why taking time away from homework to do healthy things makes school easier, because I really don't get it. But I do know that after this hectic week of managing to do a week and a half of school work (I had to catch up from missing classes last week) and still do all those other things I am sold. I will definitely be taking time each day to workout and spend with friends


Also, not everything I am made to do in life fits exactly what I want. There is this one class (with a great teacher whom I am hoping will not get offended that her class is not my favorite) that just bugs me. It's my business communications class I acknowledge that the information is important, that grammar is important, and that sounding educated is important. But it's all a little too far in my opinion. I'm a recreation major, my life is about relaxing and doing things on a professional yet more towards informal basis. Everything in the class seems to have more rules than necessary, and the mannerism is just stiff. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that professionalism doesn't have to be stiff- full of rules and robot like procedures. There are plenty of successful businessmen/women who know how to relax even when they are doing business. In fact some of the top rated business have the least boring offices like Google, AOL and Red Bull. Google is one of the most respected companies in the world and it has a slide going through it! If your professional self and your personal self aren't nearly the same person you are doing something wrong. Relax.

oh and here is the xkcd comic that perfectly describes how I feel right now about my grammar class:
http://xkcd.com/1576/

~Birdy

#myturningpoint

Hok, so to be honest this was something I wrote for one of my TR classes. But it's pretty in depth about why I'm doing what I'm doing so I wanted to post it (:


My Turning Point
I don't think I've had a turning point so much as I've had just one long journey along this big, wide rode that's taken me towards recreation therapy. This rode has always been pointed towards recreation therapy ever since before I can remember.
I have always had this burning, painful need to help other people. My mother tells me about when I was little and would see people with impairments and express my need to help them. Before I found recreation therapy I was going to have a mansion where I would house and help homeless people to get back on their feet, or be a hairdresser so that I could be the person with whom women talked through their problems. I wanted to visit the jail to bring them cookies and be their friend, I figured an influential friend was a good first step to changing their perspective on life and their attitude towards others. I was going to be a school teacher and inspire the next generation to be better than the ones before them. I've always wanted to change the world, to inspire individuals to be better and thus to make it a better place. I've always believed it was the people who made the difference everywhere and in everything.
I guess I just kept coming up with ways to inspire and help people, but they just kept not working for me. When I entered college I thought I could inspire and help people by being a motivational speaker, but that quickly turned out to be another plan that just wouldn't work. So, I went to my counselor and told him about my dilemma. I asked him if there were any majors left where I could help people, where I could still motivate people to become better. He told me there were two: psychology and recreational therapy. I knew psychology wouldn't be an option because I had a hard time and hated sitting still. As he told me more about recreation therapy I became elated that there was still a way to help, that I could do therapy and help all sorts of people and have tons of fun while doing it. So, I joined and here I am.

#Sundaylove

I love my Dylan. He's my favorite. Ever.
We've known each other for seven years now, we met and dated in high school and broke up not because we couldn't stand each other, but because he was older than me and was just going to be leaving to college. I thought that would mean the end of us and I wasn't ok with the idea of him just leaving me behind. He didn't believe me that once people graduate high school they never see each other again. They never talk to each other again. I guess this time he was right. (And I was... less right...) (: So we got back together about two years ago, neither of us could really move on. I couldn't be with anyone else without constantly thinking about dylan, nobody could hold me without me missing him. Dylan says other women are just the wrong kind of crazy, that I'm the only kind of crazy he wants. Anyway we're together and it's the best. He's the best. So here I am gushing about him.

I remember in high school he would hold me before class. I would just be in his arms and we would cuddle before the bell rang. Sometimes I would talk to other people while he held me, sometimes he would talk to other people while I lay in his arms, relaxed as I could ever be.
I remember when I first saw him again after he graduated, how he hugged me like I was the most precious thing he had ever lost and found again.
I remember him trying to convince me to be his girl again, how wordless and gentle and patient he was. I remember how he wouldn't dare try to kiss me until I kissed him first.
I remember how many times he offered to drop everything and be next to me whenever I started to freak out about anything. (I may or may not have some kind of an anxiety problem...)
I remember how every time I told him my fears he would negate and calm them, even if he himself was incredibly worried about the same thing.
I remember our first semester of long distance relationship. I remember feeling like I needed to see him right now and if I coudn't I would implode. We got to the end of the semester and saw each other without implosion by the way.

I love how strong he is, how he hushes all my fears and gives me hopes and validation that my dreams can happen, how he holds on and endures all his challenges so gracefully even when those around him only see his challenges and his shortcomings. I love his optomism, and I love the humor we share. I love the stupid jokes and the hilarious responses he comes up with to the ridiculous things I say. I love his loyalty, how he never gives up and I love the bond we share. I love Dylan.
Dylan rant over.

Church rant.
I love church. I love my church. I love the prophet and all the apostles that give me genuis advice. (Like telling my children, or in this case my followers, what my significant other means to me. Honestly I started crying halfway through that because of how strongly I felt my own emotions for Dylan. That excercise strengthened my relationship with him and he doesnt even know it yet.)
I love what my church does for me, to me really. Going to church lifts me up- not just when I'm down but lifts me higher when I'm already up. Reading the scriptures, hearing the prophets and feeling the spirit makes me feel calm, loved and reassured. These things help me not only to cope with my life and in whatever challenges I might be going through, but also gives me strength, advice and support when I am handling things just fine, which motivates me to go farther, to achieve more and to be a better person. I guess what I'm really trying to say- and all that really matters-my church makes me feel great.

~Birdy

Shewel

Schhhhhhhhhhooooooooool. school. I do that. I go to school. I go to BYU (Brigham Young University) and btw its awesome. This semester was my first one in my major (cuz im awesome like that and I got into my major;)

Anyway, so as part of my career I have to take this class/certification type dealy thing called a WFR (Wilderness First Responder pronounced woof-er woof woof lol). It's a little bit like an EMT certification and in and of itself has been really great and fun and educational. I'm learning all sorts of ways to help you die slower if you snap your leg and start bleeding out, I'm around awesome people while doing it, and the acting during our scenarios is all great fun. (seriously it's great.) But also, I've had this amazing adventure getting from provo to salt lake every day. (The train ride is 2 hours in case you were wondering.) It just feels like this fantastic trek I make every day, to leave the world of what I'm used to, to leave behind all of my fellow scholars, and to leave the convenience and civilization that is easy for me to hop on this train and spend a long time just traveling. I do lots of things on the train, I meet new people, have the most interesting of conversations, study, crochet, eat, talk on the phone with my super fantastic manfriend (because he is definitely not a little boy), and sometimes I even sleep. I have managed to do almost everything I do at home on this train and it feels interesting. I feel almost enlightened to some degree to know that all I really need right now is a place to sleep at night. A place to keep my food cold sometimes. A place to keep my dirty clothes. A place to put my backpack. It isn't the typical definition of home you think of. Usually a home is your whole world, you eat there, play there, leisure there, study there. It is your everything, not just your bed, storage bin and food supply. I guess the second perspective just makes me feel a little bit more out there, a little bit more adventurous.

And BYU is awesome. my classes are great, my professors and TA's find the most awesome ways to teach concepts. Like in my grammar class to relay the importance of grammar my teacher showed us a weird Al video, and my physics TA welcomed everyone to class with beyonce, T-swift and other pop music. My recreation teachers are just inherently cool. Part of entering the major means taking this class with this professor, his name is raymond and we will get back to him later, and on the first day you get your "TR name." (TR= Therapeutic recreation) So everybody in my major has awesome nicknames we call each other, mine's "Birdy." And just in general BYU is awesome, and there are many more things going on around campus that just get me pumped on the first week. Lots of music, lots of free stuff, lots of enthusiasm. It's all really just wonderful.

That being said I have college things to attend to, and I will write more by Wednesday at the latest, (Why are weekdays capitalized? Honestly they arn't that important.)

~Birdy