An Adventure & Amanda

There seems to be a common theme of frustration whenever I talk to anyone who has been applying for internships.  Believe me, I mean it when I say "I know how you feel." Thursday night Kyle and I cried some tears of joy as we realized that our seven-month trial of patience and faith was finally [[hopefully]] coming to an end...a happy end.  Kyle has been diligently applying for internships since September and even though he had submitted 100+ applications and had many contacts/promising outlooks nothing was working out .  I tried to be very supportive of Kyle through the entire process but may have hit a breaking point when I "filled" out my calendar for May and realized the great unknown that was post-May 3rd. Okay fine. So we'll just stay in Utah for the summer and work.  Kyle and I both found jobs and I even started making a Utah Summer Bucket list. Then Thursday night Kyle was working on his computer when all of a sudden he got really serious and ...

Well, I am finally a college senior.  I MADE IT. Although I am beyond excited to be done at BYU, I felt a little melancholy as I walked across campus today.  My freshman year was not the smoothest and as I reflected on how I could have made this experience better, I decided to pass my knowledge along.      1. GO TO CLASS.  Most freshman classes have 200+ students and so taking attendance is impossible.  Initially I saw this as an opportunity to sleep in, watch Lost , and ultimately ditch class.  I am here to testify that missing class is not worth it .  It is oh so tempting but I promise that you will look back three years later and kick yourself when you look at your grades.      My friend put it in a really motivating way: tuition costs about $2,375.  Let's assume you take the average freshman load of about 14 credits.  That means that PER credit you are paying about $170! You can buy 34 Little Caesar's...

Okay, okay, I'm sorry.  I realize it has been a while since I have blogged.  In fact, I have started several posts over the past month but for one reason or another I never finished them.  So... what have  I been doing during this hiatus anyways? Well, for one, I've been changing students' lives.     [[whoops, was that dramatic??]] Fine, maybe I did not change the world or alter anyone's life trajectory for the better but I have been consumed in teaching 31 sixth graders...and let me tell you that is not an easy task.  Emilee and I pull up to the school on our first day and we see girls wearing MAKEUP and lockers...they have LOCKERS (and pinterests and iphones and attitudes; what .)  Emilee is borderline crying and I am nervously laughing.  I think we were both about to hightail it back to our favorite 2nd grade class. But looking back on our experience I have decided that sixth grade is like that boy you just can't figure out- you have...

Perhaps because the sun is out and I'm feeling quite blissful, I have decided to post-pone my super opinionated half written post until another week.  Be grateful.   So anyways, I want to introduce you all to my dear friend Emilee. Emilee is quite possibly one of my [favorites] .  She spreads happiness wherever she goes... like, it is contagious.  It does not take much to make Emilee happy and I absolutely admire that about her.  For example, today she asked if we could stop at Sodalicious on our way back from the schools.  All I had to say was "of course" and Emilee was screaming in excitement-- "I'M GONNA GET THE 44OZ BLUE BOMBSHELL BABY!" (something like that --> wish I had been able to video her). Like a soda made Emilee so happy so that made me happy too.  Also, Emilee is a person that makes everyone feel good.  She always has something nice to say.  She'll make you feel good about yourself when you do not f...

     Once upon a time, (pre-mission age change), you had to fight to find housing at BYU.  After a failed attempt at obtaining housing, the "wolfpack:" Holly, Kylie, Sydney, Megan, Sarah, and I found ourselves in a predicament of where to live.  We narrowed our choices down to The Cox (the name alone indicates the type of living conditions) or The Riviera.  The Riv has a reputation for being cheap, housing young sophomores/fresh RMs, and a party place...I can't say that that reputation is entirely false.  But anyways that is how six innocent sophomore girls came to be Riviera residents of apartment 135.      I do not think my mother has ever doubted my ability to make decisions more than when I moved into my apartment.  Underneath my stained mattress we found a plate with the remains of an unidentifiable object, the cabinets were in need of some heavy duty clorox wipes, and most of the outlets were missing covers.  To say the...

The other night I came home from my lost dodgeball game a sore loser.  I exclaimed to Kyle: "I'm just not good at anything!"  He immediately pounced (literally) and told me he wasn't going to let me up until I named 10 things I am good at.   Dramatically , I groaned and said I couldn't think of anything!  Kyle gave me a firm look so I sighed and started listing off things like: I'm good at sleeping, I'm good at eating junk food, I'm good at watching lots of TV, I'm good at being dramatic, I'm good at being negative.  My poor husband let go of me and I could tell my words hurt him a little.  He sulked back to the couch after whispering, "I just wish you'd have some self-confidence ..." Ugh. Talk about my life struggle.   But Kyle really got me thinking.  Sometimes I just claim that I am "realistic" and probably better for it but at the same time it is okay  to give myself credit.  So, I'd like to share with you 1...

Okay, I admit Kyle and I have a "problem." We are WAY too obsessed with the Denver Broncos. But I don't want anyone to call us bandwagoners-------> I grew up watching Broncos games with my dad.   I rooted for #7 John Elway.   I had a specific cheer for Mike Shanahan.   When I was six I lost a tooth almost every time the Broncos won a game.  That was the year Denver went to the 1998 Super Bowl and I remember we got out of Church early in order to watch the game.  I cheered for the Broncos when they had good seasons and I cheered for the Broncos when they had less-than-perfect seasons.   I was one of the few believers in Tim Tebow.   I was ecstatic when the Broncos hired Coach Fox.   Every year I kept saying: "it's just a re-building year, we'll get back in the game eventually." As far as Kyle's story? I think this picture is enough proof that he has been cheering for the Broncos for as long as he can remember: I love Kyle ...