Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Best. Present. Ever.

Christmas couldn't come fast enough this year. After a long 13.5 months of not speaking to my brother face to face, I got to Skype him!


There he is, the best big brother in the world. I couldn't ask for a better example. Rickey left November 9, 2011, for the Provo MTC. He was supposed to be there for 11 weeks before heading out to Ukraine. However, the Lord works in mysterious ways. None of the Ukrainian missionaries' visas went through, so at the end of the 11 weeks, Rickey was sent to Chicago. He was there for 6 weeks before the visa finally went through and he could go to Ukriaine.
This was the first time we had Skyped him. We've talked to him on the phone several times--more than most people, in fact. He was able to call to tell us what was going on with the visa, and we got 15 minutes then. This time, we got an hour. He was in an internet club in Lutsk, and we all crowded around Mom's laptop.


Rickey had us worried for a while. He was about half an hour late getting onto Skype. Turns out that he and his companion had a little bit of trouble getting a computer; after all, they were just in a public club. There were several interruptions. First, we got to meet some of the missionaries in his district. (According to one elder, Rickey is a beautiful person and the best elder in the district. I can believe that. :D) Then partway through, a man came up and started talking to him in Ukrainian. I guess Rickey and his companion had talked to him a while back. He showed Rickey the pamphlet they had given him and told Rickey that he would be coming to church on Sunday! So we got to witness missionary work firsthand.
I've always taken my family and friends for granted. Now, with so many missionaries heading out, I recognize just how much I rely on all of you to make it through each and every day. Thank you so much for all of the support that you give me. My life is made up of wonderful moments with all of you, and I'm so thankful for that. I love you all. Merry Christmas! :)

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Finals...

I went to Maceys last night, grabbed my food, and went to the register. The cashier looked at me (in my pajamas), looked at my food (chips, popcorn, ice cream, and frozen pizza), and said, "Well, you've got the essentials."

Don't judge me, buddy. It's finals week.

I always believed my friends when they told the horror stories about finals. I really did. It's just...well, you never really understand until you're living through it. Yesterday, my brain shut down. All I wanted to do was watch a movie. So yes, I went to Redbox and Maceys and had a movie night with some friends. And then crammed in a final paper in beween classes this morning. Was it smart? Not really. Was my best night ever? Nope. But man, I will always love The Amazing Spider-Man, if only because it saved my sanity for a night.

To give you high school students an idea of what finals week is like: imagine studying for 6 AP tests, while still doing homework, papers, and studying for said AP tests. Then throw a part-time job in there. Oh, let's not forget about end-of-semester cleaning checks. Then, just for kicks and giggles, let's add a church calling and a social life, and you've got the average college student's life right about now.

In Sociology, we're talking about roles. Role conflict is when a person has two or more conflicting roles. For example, you can be a student and a friend. When faced with the decision of studying or watching a movie with friends, which do you choose? That, my friends, is the choice that college students make everyday. But you know what, that isn't a bad thing. We choose it, and we love it. Some days. Others, not so much. But for all of our complaining, we love it. I love it. College is wonderful. It's just that, right now, prayers would be much appreciated.

Have I scared you yet? Good. :) Just kidding. But seriously, don't stress. College is hard, yeah. But life is meant to be hard. We all have our own kinds of challenges at certain points in our lives, and finals are only a week long. To be honest, they're really not even that bad, not if you've studied. Plus, there's a light at the end of the tunnel--I go home in a week, and I'll be there for 3 weeks! It'll be grand. :)

I love you all! Good luck to everybody who has crazy end-of-semester stuff! :)