Skype Meeting

This past week, my group decided to meet through Skype to talk about our presentation that we had to give for MCOM. I thought it went very well. There were a few problems that occurred but they were very minor and all together the meeting through Skype was successful. I thought it was a nice change to meet in my apartment instead of meeting in the library on-campus.

I actually prefer to meet in the library because I felt it was actually easier for myself to focus. I liked the fact that I could talk about the presentation from inside my apartment, but overall, I like the idea of physically meeting in person. I also feel as though I can explain myself better in person.

While we were meeting, we had a google doc where we could physically view or report and together make changes and critique the report. It was helpful to do it that way. Then we could Skype and edit. Overall, the experience was good, but I would rather physically meet in the library.

Country Living

I am a small town country girl from Honeyville, Utah who lives on a ranch. Life really doesn't get much better than that. Growing up, I would spend hours with my dad helping him with anything that he needed help with. Because of this, I spent countless hours on a horse herding sheep and cattle.

Because I have been living in Provo for the past three years, sometimes I forget how much I love quiet open spaces. This past week I went home and had the opportunity to go herd cattle. Being out there in Whites Valley on a horse, enjoying the country, made me appreciate how I grew up. 

The city is great and BYU is the best education I could ever ask for, but I learned this week that wherever I end up, I want to live in the country where there are quiet open spaces. 

Black Friday

Every year a couple of my friends and myself have this tradition to go Black Friday shopping. Every year it is the same outcome, crazy people, gathered in small places, all fighting to get the best deal on everything. Even though people are crazy and it is a stressful time to fear for your life, there is nothing better then the Black Friday atmosphere. This year was different then the other years though, Black Friday turned more into a "Grey Thursday" with all the shops in the mall opening on Thursday around six in the afternoon. My friends and I went around seven and by the time we got to the mall, the lines were short and people were relaxed with everything in order. It was the most uneventful Black Friday experience I had ever had. I didn't like that the stores were open on Thursday. Black Friday is the time to wake up early and shop tired and fight for the stuff you want. Having Black Friday start on Thursday does not give you the same experience as Black Friday should. I learned that Black Friday is not worth going to if you can't get up and enjoy shopping and being tired for the night. Next year I'm going to keep this in mind and maybe my friends and I will have to have a different adventure on this night to makeup for the lack of experience that you usually get from Black Friday.

I Need My Sleep

Do you remember when you were younger and your mom would try to convince you to go to bed early because you "needed your sleep?" Well, my mom said that to me many times when I was younger and I never really listened. In high school and even my freshman year of college I always stayed out way too late playing with friends and I never got the amount of sleep that I should have, but since I have been in college for a few years, I have learned that in order to excel in school, the best way to do it is first, study hard and second, get a good nights rest. I am pretty good at going to bed around 10:30-11 (which I think is pretty early) and midnight at the latest. Last night though, I didn't get to bed until three in the morning. Me and my roommates had some fun and then sat around talking for hours about pointless stuff girls talk about. It was so fun to sit around, talk and laugh at everything because of how exhausted we all were. I had a blast and it seemed like a great idea until I woke up this morning. I can't remember a day where I have been as tired as I was. That is when I realized how much sleep I actually need. To put into perspective my actual state of exhaustion, I almost fell asleep at the football game. Rather pathetic I know. The only reason I felt justified with how tired I was today was because it is a weekend and everyone deserves to have fun. So, my goal is to never stay out that late on weekdays and party it up on the weekends. That way I can have energy to focus on my studies during the week and then still have a good time with my friends on the weekends. It had been a while since I had stayed out as late as I did and it was a friendly reminder that I need all the sleep I can get.

Driving in the Rain

Driving in the rain is a terrifying experience for me. Last winter I was driving in the rain, I wasn't speeding or driving any faster then the vehicles around me, but my car hydroplaned in the middle of the freeway intersection. I was fine and luckily there weren't any cars around when this happened so I was lucky enough to pull off to the side of the freeway and then have my freak out safely. I had this experience just this past week and I realized how much of a fear I have of driving in the rain because of the past experience I had. 

I learned that my fear of driving in the rain is a lot worse then I thought it was. If I ever have to drive in the rain, I am going to find a different route to drive and avoid the freeway at all costs. I hate driving on the freeway in the rain and since last week when I re-experienced that, I will always avoid it. 

Sometimes It's Best to Humble Yourself

My mother is the best. She can seriously fix anything you need, give you great advice on any topic, and make anyone laugh because her personality is on point. She is so cleaver in fact, that she has given herself the name "Magic Mama." She signs her name m.m. when she is writing notes to my family or texting any of us. It makes me laugh and it just goes to show how cute my mother actually is. Anyways, this week, I re-learned a lesson that I have had to learn many times now. My mother always knows best. I have a hard time with this concept because I feel as though sometimes I should know best, but there comes a time when her opinion is always more correct then mine. This week me and my mother got in a little tiff over nothing, but I was determined to prove that I was right. As the week went on, we both stood firm in who we thought was correct. It wasn't until my father stepped in and proved to me how right my mother was that I was able to realize how blind I was from trying to prove her wrong. It was very clear in the end that what me and my mother were having this tiff on was stupid because she knew from the start that she knew best and that I should have listened to her from the start.

Lesson of the week: it is best to humble yourself and accept that your mother is always right. It doesn't matter if you feel as though you are correct, your mother will prove that you are not. From now on, I am not going to be stubborn and try to prove something against what my mother says because in the end, I will be proven wrong. I am going to humble myself and just accept that my "Magic Mama" is always right.

Online Interviewing

This past week, in my MCOM class, we were assigned a classmate to complete an online interview with. Angela and I were teamed up and we completed this online interview assignment. We didn't have any technical difficulty while interviewing each other and finding a time we both could meet was easy. What I thought was hard was trying to explain exactly what I meant over FaceTime. I found this hard because I couldn't use hand gestures to help me describe things and overall improve my communication with Angela. I also didn't have the pressure that I usually do when I get in-front of the interviewer because it was over FaceTime. Usually the pressure of talking to someone face to face works to my advantage, I can get in-front of someone or a group of people and explain myself better than I can over a cell phone. 

Overall, I had a good experience doing the online interview. I know that throughout my career I will have many online interviews. This assignment was a great experience for me to see how I would handle myself in a similar situation as this. Hopefully in my future career I don't have online interview often though, I would much rather do it in person where my hands can help me explain myself and I can use the pressure of talking to someone face to face to my advantage. 

Expect the Unexpected

This week I learned to expect the unexpected. Not only is it the week of Halloween, but many of my professors decided to surprise me with unexpected homework and tests that are due at the beginning of next week. The homework is understandable because professors can do what they want, but what I really learned was how scared I am of chainsaws. My boyfriend and I went to a haunted house and I thought the entire thing was kind of funny and stupid until the end when I got chased by a chainsaw man. I was terrified. Looking back at it, it was funny the way I reacted, but at the time I was nervous. I guess what I learned is to expect the unexpected and know that things can jump out and surprise you at anytime. Even when you are at a haunted house and you know you are there to get scared. I need to learn to take things one step at a time and realize I always need to be on my toes and expect the unexpected.

Forgive and Forget

This past week, there was an experience that was re-brought up of a mistake a close family friend had made years ago. Having this mistake brought back up, made me realize how important it is to forgive and forget. Life is too short to keep holding on to little mistakes that have been made throughout the years. People change and mature and I don't understand the need some people have to remember mistakes of someones past.

There are many things to worry about in life and judging people by the mistakes of their past is not one of those things. Life is too short to only remember the negative. That is why this week I am going to only think positive of people. I am not one to hold someones mistakes against them, but it's hard not to judge. That is why my goal for this week is to try my best not to judge and to forgive and forget.

As Easy as it Looks

This week I learned that fly fishing is just as easy as it looks. I have watched my boyfriend (Dante) fly fish many times before, and he makes it look so easy so, I decided to give it a try. Dante and I, traveled to the Ogden River where he said he has caught many fish. As we set up our poles and connected the correct gear, he proceeded to tell me the tactics on how to catch a fish. I listened to what he had to say and then I decided to give it a try. We had fished for about 20 minutes when I caught my first fish. Dante, had not caught one yet. An hour later, I had caught an additional four fish and Dante still was not lucky enough to get a bite. After about and hour and a half when I had caught six fish and Dante was still at zero, we decided to call it a day.

The moral of this story is, do not out-fish your boyfriend. Dante was not super happy that I caught six fish my first time fly fishing when he has fished for years and didn't catch a thing. I had a great time fly fishing and want to go again. I'll just remember that when I get a bite, I'll let my boyfriend pull it in next time.

The Little Things In Life

This week was an average week. I studied practically all day everyday. While studying and being stressed, I really learned to appreciate the little things in life. School is so stressful and sometimes I get caught up in the stressful atmosphere of school and I forget to notice the little beautiful things. One of my favorite things I noticed this week is the smell of the air. It smells like autumn and I really appreciated it when I was walking to school everyday. It reminds me of my childhood and makes me happy.

I realized that I don't recognize the little things in life often enough so this week, I am going to take time out of my day to find a little thing to be grateful for everyday. This earth is so beautiful and the little things in it make me so happy so I am going to make sure I recognize those little things everyday this week.

It's Always Best to do it Right the First Time

This week in one of my classes, my assignment that was due was to go onto the internet and complete a survey. After the survey was completed, I was to write a seven page essay on the feedback that I had received. I thought that this assignment would be easy and that I could quickly write my seven page paper on the evaluation. Writing the essay was simple, the problem that I came across was when I did not read the instructions before starting the survey. I didn't realize that the survey was going to cost me twenty dollars and even though I didn't want to pay for it, I had no choice. Honestly, what is twenty dollars anyways. As I submitted my payment online, it came to my knowledge that I had not read the instructions that my professor had given me and the survey that I had purchased was in-fact, the wrong one. Now instead of spending twenty dollars of my well earned money on a survey for school, I had to spend forty. 

This experience that I had was not a big deal. I spent twenty more dollars then I intended, but that was fine. I learned a valuable lesson though. Even though, in my mind, I thought I knew the exact survey to take, I should have read over the instructions my professor had given me and chosen the correct survey in the first place. From now on, I am going to make sure I read the instruction before doing anything. Even if it takes some extra time and I think I know what to do in the first place. It's always better to do it right the first time. 

Snow and Sun

This week was a beautiful week. It was warm and sunny everyday. The sky was blue and the air was warm. I learned that I want this everyday. I love summer and this week made me wish it was summer year round. It would be perfect if there was snow in the mountains so I could go boarding in the morning, and hot weather in the valley during the afternoon so I could still enjoy summer clothing and get tan. The more I thought about this, the more I wanted to know if this idea I had was realistic. With a little research, I found that it is! The big island of Hawaii has two tall volcanoes that have snow on them during the winter months. So it is possible to snowboard and lay out in the same day. I just need to move to Hawaii. To do this I need to make a lot of money and realize that I'm going to be spending too much money on a gallon of milk. I would love to live like that and maybe I will in the future.

The Library

This week I learned that the only place to study is in the library. After hours and hours of trying to finish assignments at my friends apartment and study for multiple quizzes and tests, I have come to the conclusion that the library is the only place I can give my homework my one full attention. While trying to study at my friend's apartment, I would get distracted wanting to take a nap, talk, or listen to my friend play the guitar. Needless to say, I got things done, but it took twice as long as it should have.

I learned from this experience that the only place to do my best on my assignments is in the library. I am going to apply this by getting everything done right after class, in the library, everyday while I am on campus. Working on homework in the library helps me focus and I have noticed that my homework always gets done a lot faster there. So that is what I have decided to do, always do my homework in the library.

Procrastination is a Killer.

This week was stressful and when I am stressed, naturally I put things off until the last second when I have to do it. My professors decided that the second week of school is the best time to pile on the homework so I was swamped. Not only was homework the only thing I was worried about, my cars registration expired the end of August and I was worried I was going to get a ticket every time I drove anywhere, and to top things off, I applied for my major at school this week and had to have my application turned in by Friday.

With the many things that I knew had to be done, I should have managed my time more wisely. I knew the homework that was going to be given, I knew my car needed to be registered, and I knew that my application for the program was due this week. Nothing came as a surprise and I chose to put it all off until the last second. This taught me a valuable lesson. Next time when I know there is an assignment that is going to be due, I will work on it and finish it early with plenty of time to spare. I know that every August my car needs to be inspected and licensed and from now on, I will make sure my car is registered on time. And well, I have already applied to my program so I won't have to worry about that anymore but, next time I have to apply for anything, I will make sure that I begin working on it early and leave myself plenty of time to perfect it and make it the best it can be.

New Semester, New Assignments

Being a new semester, I have learned many new things. One of my favorite things that I am currently learning to do is play the guitar. This past Tuesday my first beginning guitar class was held. This day was the first time I have ever sat down and tried to place my fingers in a position to create a sound that doesn't hurt the ears of many. As I quietly sat in the classroom listening to my professor explain how to hold the guitar, tune the guitar, and play the guitar, I realized the challenge it was going to be for me to become a decent guitar player.

It is said that "practice makes perfect" and when it comes to learning to play the guitar, I know that is what it is going to take. The more I practice, the better I will become. Its going to be hard and my fingers are going to hurt but my end goal is to become comfortable with my guitar playing skills. My short term goal that I am going to achieve before my next class held on Tuesday, is to master the three guitar cords I have learned and be able to play them without looking at my fingers. This is not going to be easy and it is going to take a lot of patience, but I know if I stick to it, I can do it.