You don't know what you've got till its gone...

So yesterday I went on this retreat with my dance committee group. I was really looking forward to it and thought it would be a great chance for me to go and make a lot of really great new friends. As it turned out, I kept trying to fit in to all these different little cliques, and it didn't work. I haven't felt so alone in a long time... I really missed my roommates. It was the first night being without them in over 3 weeks. I missed them all day. The worst though was when I sat down to read my scriptures before going to sleep. It was 2 in the morning and I was exhausted, but all I kept thinking was that I haven't missed a day since moving to Rexburg; it was my first night without a roomie scripture study and prayer. I just about lost it and broke into tears. I caught myself though. There were only a couple other girls awake at this point, but I still didn't want anyone to see me unhappy. So, I called Jessica. She didn't answer. Well, finally after reading a chapter and saying a prayer, I was able to fall asleep among all these people I didn't know. Jessica did call about an hour later, but I was too slow to get out of my sleeping bag and run across the hall. By the time I answered my phone, she was gone. I was exhausted and for some reason wasn't quite sure if I dreamed her calling me, just because I wanted to talk to her so badly. So I went back to sleep...

I'm not going to say the whole trip was terrible because it wasn't. I did meet a lot of people, we played a lot of fun games, and I learned a lot. I just felt so alone. It was one of the very few times in my life I've ever felt so alone. I couldn't handle it.

I want you all to know that I love you and I miss you. I literally pray for you all every night. I can't wait until I can see you again.

I am feeling better now. Kristilyn and I had a nice talk tonight, one that I really needed to have. I just cried to her about all my frustrations and worries, and she made me feel so much better. I am so glad to have loving, understanding roommates who are always there for me when I need them.

I am so grateful for all of you, family & friends. It is so uplifting to know that I can also count on you at any given time of day. I am so blessed.

Love you all. Have a wonderful night and Sunday tomorrow :)

<3 Me

oh, the joys of homework!

Tonight was the first night I stayed up so late...STUDYING!! In the two weeks of classes, I've never had any trouble with finishing my assignments long before I go to sleep. Tonight was different. All sorts of activities and assignments kept piling onto my schedule today, so rather than talking to Jessica for a few hours before bed, I spent those few hours frantically working on homework. I did get to talk to her for a little bit though :D She woke me back up as I was beginning to doze off... At least I'm not alone though. Talia and Kristilyn are both still working hard at taking notes in their textbooks, highlighting, and writing essays. SO GLAD I am done for the night!! I thought the madness would never end! Haha. I am so excited to go brush my teeth and sleep in that creeky bunkbed tonight!! Sleeping will be like Heaven...until I have to wake up in about four and a half hours. YAY!

Hope you are all well :D
Sweet dreams & don't let those bed bugs bite.
Have a SUPER day tomorrow...although I guess that means today. WHOO!

-Jen

the roommates

I could have only imagined that BYU-Idaho would be this good. I knew that it would be fun when I took the campus tour, but I could have only hoped that I would love Rexburg this much.



I really want to fill you all in on everything I have learned from my classes. Even more than that, I wish I could share the sweet, personal spiritual experiences I have had from being on this campus with you. Unfortunately, I don't feel that the best place to share these experiences is on my blog. However, if any of you want to hear some of them, please don't hesitate to ask me. I would love to tell you about the tender mercies my Heavenly Father has shown to me these past couple of weeks. They are incredible.



What I really want to talk about right now is my roommates. I have thought for days about what to say about them exactly. Not only do I know that they will kill me if I post anything they don't like on here, but I want to get the wording just right because I love these girls so much and I feel so blessed to have been placed with them. I wish you could meet them. They are each so fun, happy, sweet, goofy, and loving. I have learned so much from them at our nightly scripture study. They share insights that I would have never thought of. They continue to impress me everyday with their motivation, joy of life, and compassion for others. They inspire me to be my best.



Talia is my roomie. We are kind of funny together. She is the one who will tell me straight up that I am being the biggest dork. She lets me know when I say something stupid or look like a nerd. We argue constantly about silly things and then just as we are starting to make a truce, we find ourselves starting the cycle all over again. Despite it all, she is the one who seems to be the most understanding of me and forgiving of my most dorky, stupid, nerdy ways. She always leaves the light on for me when she goes to bed, being so thoughtful of the fact that I am a night owl and also very clumsy. She doesn't want me to hurt myself as I try to maneuver around the room while she is unconscious. I always come in and turn off the light for her when I realize that she is ready for bed. She is very sweet. I have really missed Grandma leaving me love notes on the kitchen table, and I was so excited the other night to find a piece of paper with Talia's handwriting on it. She had fallen asleep hours before. It was really late by the time I finally was able to crash. So I quietly opened the door to grab my clothes so I could change into pajamas, and I saw this green piece of paper on my desk. It said, "I Love You Jenny! ♥ your loving roommate, Talia" on it. That was all it said, but it made me so happy. The simple little acts of kindness she does for me brightens my day.



Kristilyn is the one you will hear all day long laughing and chatting on the phone. She is one of the friendliest people I have ever met. She is so easy to talk to and get along with. She gets countless phone calls day in and day out that I have no idea how she ever gets anything done. Everyone loves her and wants to talk to her and spend time with her. I love the stories she tells as she talks about growing up in Iowa. She talks about her family and friends with so much love, and it obviously shows because everyone is so excited when they get to talk to her or when they accidentally bump into her on campus. She knows everyone and loves everyone. What an example to follow!!



Andrea is our Texas girl and she never lets us forget it. She doesn't have an accent or anything, BUT the most commonly used word in our apartment is YA'LL, and she doesn't even know it until we point it out to her. We laugh because she says it so much, and when we say it she doesn't notice it at all. She also makes the yummiest quesadillas in the world. I get so excited everytime she announces she is going to make them or I see her preparing them in the kitchen. Andrea probably has the most personality out of all of us and she definetely is the filling that makes us complete.



I believe that these girls will be my friends forever. We are so close that I can hardly believe we've only known each other for 2 weeks. I am so grateful for these roommates. They are amazing!

"sometimes fantasies are better than reality"

So I was in my History & Philosophy of Education class today, and I learned that I am most definetely an idealist. I would much rather spend my time dreaming than living in reality. I saw a quote in Deseret Book one time that really struck me and I loved it right away, but now I realize why I like it so much. "You know you're in love when reality is finally better than your dreams." I think this applies to me more than just 'being in love'. I think that I know I love my life when reality is finally better than my dreams. Until then, I'll just continue fantasizing and living a happy life, just a little incomplete. Just thought I'd share that with whoever reads this because I think it is a big part of who I am.

"and when you dream, Dream Big!!"

Hey everyone! So I realized that its been a week since I last filled you in on the college life here at BYU-I. This week has been amazing. I love all of my classes. They are so different from high school classes. All of the textbook readings and note taking is saved for homework, which is fine with me because at least then I know that the thousands of dollars I am paying is actually going towards quality classroom time. Each of my classes is discussion-based, which is really neat because since everyone is LDS we can incorporate teachings of the gospel into our lessons. Every class begins with an opening prayer and some of them even start with a hymn as well. It is incredible here, the Spirit is so strong and you can see it looking in the eyes of the students. I LOVE IT :)

My schedule is as follows:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: English & Child Development
Tuesday & Thursday: Psychology, Book of Mormon, History & Philosophy of Ed.

On Monday, my roomies and I decorated our living room for FHE as our ward FHE groups haven't been made yet. We wrote a bunch of our inside jokes all over and we joke that by the end of the semester it will be so filled that we will be searching for a blank spot to write on.

Nothing really exciting happened Tuesday, but on Wednesday I found out that I made it into the Social Activities Committee, meaning that I help plan or organize dances. I am actually a manager of the Fall Formal here on October 24 :) I am working to create a Christmas Ball, too, that I will run by council on Wednesday. I want the theme to be "Winter Wonderland". There would be an etiquette dinner, dance, sleigh rides, and ice skating. I think it could be really cute so hopefully it passes and I can get to work on that along with my plans for Fall Formal.

Again, Thursday wasn't very exciting, but Friday was Andrea's birthday. We heart-attacked her while she was at her classes. Then we through her a little party and invited all the girls living in our dorms. It turned out to be really fun and actually a lot of girls came. Some neighbors we hadn't met yet came and visited us that night after the party to sing to Andrea and show off some dance moves. It was pretty funny =]

Saturday, I just stayed in and worked on homeowork. We tried to go do baptisms for the dead that morning, but the temple had an hour and a half wait so we decided we'd go back on a weekday. That was a shame because I was so excited, but hopefully we can go back in the next couple of days. I finished all of my homework Saturday which was nice - I had all of Sunday to just relax and not worry about studying.

Yesterday we went to church. This made me a little bit homesick for my ward back in Orem. I really miss my single's ward there. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and made you feel wanted. I loved it there. Also, everyone was just a bit older so they were more respectful of Sacrament meeting and the Spirit was so strongly felt. At church here these past couple weeks, it is hard to feel it. We have our Sacrament meeting in a classroom, so it makes it just a little harder to focus. Then, we have almost all freshmen in our ward who just cannot seem to close their mouths. It is really hard to get in the spiritual mood with everyone chatting away about their dates, housing issues, and homework. Anyway, I felt homesick a lot yesterday because I missed my old ward and my friends back in Utah.

Yesterday after church, I came home to find an email from the Service Committee and found out that I have also been accepted into that committee and I am on the Council. I am really excited about it :)

Which brings us to last night: We were invited over to a friend's apartment to play games and eat these pancake-waffles they had made. It was really fun and nice to be invited somewhere for a change. When we got home last night though, I went back into my bedroom to check my email really quick when Andrea came in and told me to go to the living room and it was important. I went to the living room and everyone was sitting around Gustave's fishbowl. Talia looked up at me and said, "We had a death in the family." I looked into the bowl, and yes, there lied my baby Gustave at the bottom of his tank. It was so sad! We only had the little guy for 8 days and we killed him!! He was a part of the family. As I flushed him down the toilet, it brought back memories of Max, my sweet puppy who was put to sleep a couple of months ago. Now I know that it seems weird that Gustave made me think of Max because there was such a drastic difference between them, but I felt like after Max, I needed another pet. Not to replace him; Max could never be replaced. I just felt that longing to have a pet who relied on me and loved me. I know, I know. I am talking about a fish, but here in the dorms thats about as far as we can get to having a pet. It was so sad.

So here I am. It is Monday morning. I think I am going to get a headstart on homework for this week before my english class at 12:45. I love how I have mornings all to myself. All of my roomies go to their classes and the apartment is so quiet. Its easy to concentrate on homework too because Facebook is blocked until 5 on weekdays :P

Well, that is about all that's happened this week. Nothing too super exciting, but I really do like it here. Please keep in touch. I love getting all of your random text messages throughout the day. They make me so happy. I hope all of you are doing well. For my friends living in Orem and AF, I will see you Halloween weekend and Thanksgiving weekend!! And those friends living in Boise, I am coming back for Christmas break for about a week so I will see you then! I miss you all and love you. Take care!

-Me <3

"Gustav, that sounds like a Russian name. . ." aha

Sorry, last post for the day. I've just had a lot of down time today so a lot of time to make up for the nights I couldn't update you. And now, you have lots to read and catch up on ;)

I found out today that we are allowed to have PETS! Okay, well, not just any pet because I would DEFINETELY get a puppy if they were allowed. Anyways, I got SO excited when I found out so Talia, Kristilynn, and I made the long trek out to Walmart. We did actually have to buy things besides a pet, so it was pretty funny. We went to the fishtanks and I picked him out. Just an adorable black and white angelfish. We had already decided on the name Gustav on the walk over, so when I saw this fish I knew he was the one because the name fit so perfect. He actually looks a lot like Gil from "Finding Nemo", or at least I think he does. So after Gustav was in the little baggy, we walked around Walmart and did the rest of our shopping. It felt funny because I actually put him on my grocery list!! haha. "Tennis shoes, plastic forks, spoons, and cups, fish. . " aha. So now he is sitting on our kitchen table in his little fishbowl with a super cute shark figurine and fake sea plants :) He is very cute.

And I found out on our way back from Walmart that we can actually have any pet that stays in the water. Seahorse? Turtle? Frogs? The possibilities are endless. . .

<3 Jenny

Pictures :D

So I thought I'd post a few pictures from my college experience so far! Enjoy =]

This is the BEAUTIFUL Idaho Falls Temple! It is only about 20 minutes from Rexburg, and even closer to me is the AMAZING:

Rexburg Temple! I just walk around the side of my dorms and its RIGHT THERE! It's in the distance a bit, but only about a ten minute walk. It makes me so happy to have a temple within walking distance :)

The move-in day. . . .

Roommate Adventures:
This is when we got lost. HAHA

Andrea, Kristilynn, and Talia. This picture was taken after we realized we should have just turned around instead of cutting through the field, and then continuing to walk to the opposite side of the field. We are REALLY cool! :D Love them! haha

This was when we made YUMMY cookies ;)

Pictures of my dorm will be up soon! Love you all!!

<3>

"Roommates who pray together, stay together!"

Hey everyone!! This last week has been crazy! On Monday, I went back to Boise for just a couple of days before moving to Rexburg. I spent those few days visiting my best friends and packing (sorta) for the big move. (See, I didn't really want to pack in Orem, so stuff was just kind of thrown into random boxes and trash bags, and when I got to Boise I had no idea where anything was so I had to unpack it all and then repack it again!) Monday night we got to Boise at about 10. Dad and Samantha jumped out of the car and I raced over to Andrew's!! I was so excited to see him! Then, I had to go pick William up from work at the theater so when I picked him up I got to see my Shanni!!!! Tuesday, I had a dentist appointment and found out I have to get my wisdom teeth pulled in April! YUCK! aha. I hung out at home for a little while, Andrew's family came over for a B.B.Q. and games, and Shanni and Meagan slept over at my house =] I missed these girls soo sooo much! We got up bright and early, went to breakfast with my Sydney!! Then I spent the rest of the day shopping for food, eating lunch with Samantha, getting ice cream with my Carter Ray, and saying bye to Roo (Andrew).

On Wednesday, we shipped the kids off to school and Mom and Dad and I made the 4 hour trip to Rexburg. We got here at about 1-ish and they helped me get all settled. I met my roommates! I live in Lamprecht hall (girl's dorms at BYU-I) and so we have a cute little kitchen, living room, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. My roommate is Talia. She's so cute! She is from Arizona and is majoring in Early Childhood/Special Education. Across the hall from us is Kristilynn and Andrea who are also great! That night we stayed up and talked for a little while, then had a prayer together (note: "Roommates who pray together, stay together!") and went off to our bunk beds! (HAHA Jessica - I can totally see myself falling off of it! And Talia said I was giggling in my sleep last night! lol) We have been doing some of the Get Connected stuff for freshmen these last few days, and when we aren't doing the Get Connected activities, we have adventures of our own.

For example:

A. Talia and I went to go get my textbooks yesterday at the bookstore and when we went to pay they asked for my I-Card. Well, I didn't know I needed that to get my books, so I spent about 5 minutes searching for it before she could charge me for them!! After I finally found it, I was so glad to leave the bookstore that I forgot to wait for my receipt, so we had to turn around and go back in to get it with all the same people staring at me, probably thinking "Ahh, freshmen...." *sigh* Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed.

B. Talia and I went to the library after the bookstore because she needed to print something off the computer. So we go inside, not knowing which computers we could use that would print. We look around cluelessly and finally make it to a computer that is labelled PRINTER. We get excited because it must print if it says PRINTER on it. WRONG. It does print, but this is the computer you use once you've already sent the document to the printer. We feel a little stupid, but we make our way to another group of computers. Talia and I sit down and send documents to the printer, then I get up to use my I-Card at the PRINTER computer. Come to find out, you have to pay for the prints with your I-Card. I didn't have any money on mine so I sit back down and Talia asked me if it worked. I told her you had to have money on it and we were contemplating how to pay for the prints since neither of us had money on our cards. Then, the girl next to Talia tells us we can pay at the check-out and they can put money on the I-Card so we can print. She was probably thinking, "Ahh, freshmen...." *sigh*

C. My roommates and I leave to visit one of Talia's friends at his apartment. We still don't know our way around the campus very well, but we head out, determined to find it. Well, as we are walking after about ten minutes, we realize we passed his street. We are already pretty far from the street, so instead of turning all the way around, we decide to cut through one of the football fields and it would just be a clear shot from there. We reach the end of the football field and realize that there was a drop-off right there, and straight into a bunch of sagebrush and weeds, and a fence. We didn't want to look stupid in front of all the boys playing football, so we decide to take a picture of the sunset to make it look like we intended to do that. Then, we turn to the left and start walking that way, still determined not to turn around. At the end of that side of the field, however, was another drop-off, and on both sides of the corner. Finally, we climb down one side over a bunch of rocks and weeds, and start back on our way to her friend's house. Once we reached his house, we discovered that he had been watching us the whole time as we had cut across the field, got stuck, and took the long way, and then had to do some rock climbing. He was laughing pretty hard at us. "Ahh, freshmen...." *sigh*

So hopefully there won't be many more moments like these because they are a little embarrassing, but at least I'm not alone in this!! My roommates are so fun :) Last night we pulled out my mattress and laid it in the living room so we could watch a movie. We baked (or at least tried to bake) some delicious chocolate chip cookies. ahaha.

Anyway, I feel like I am at EFY. Hopefully this will change once classes start on Monday. I really do love it here though. There really is an incredible feeling here, The Spirit of Ricks. Its amazing. Everyone is so friendly, and even though I forget their names thousands of times they are so forgiving and continue to kindly remind me of their names. I really believe I made the right choice in coming to BYU-Idaho. It is going to be amazing; I know it!!

I love you all and hope you are all doing well. Please text me, call me, email me. I'm still not in classes and definetely not too busy yet to talk to you. Even when classes do start, I would love to talk to you! Have a great day everyone!

<3 Jenny