Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Run.
I am not a runner. But there is something about it that I just love. So after my missing my exercise for a while... swine flu followed by trying to catch back up in school followed by extreme tummy pain... tonight I went out for the first time in two weeks. Heather took me with her on her normal run which is up around the temple and back. I thought it'll be super fun to run with Heather and I needed to go out anyway. I probably should have thought it through a little bit more but we put on some tennis shoes and we were on our way. I ran for a ways, walked a stretch, ran to the corner of the MTC, walked across the bottom of the temple while Heather ran around the top, ran down, walked the same stretch again and then ran the rest of the way back. I thought I was going to die by the end. Heather was so patient with me. I was super slow. But it was worth it. I feel amazing now. That's why I love running. At the end I just feel amazing. The world could not be any better and I am so happy. Running just gives me such a high. I can just escape. It doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks and what I have to do. I can achieve everything and anything. So when I got back I mapped it on google and I ran .7 miles, walked .3, ran .7, walked .1, ran .7, walked .3 and ran .7. That means my total was 3.5 miles and my total for running was 2.8 miles. Wow. I am so excited. Anyways. I'm really supposed to be studying for nutrition but I had to share my happy thought.
Friday, September 18, 2009
"Blueberries Cure Swine Flu"
Once upon a time Heather and Rachel were sitting in their room being their silly selves when there was a knock at the door. Heather jumped up to go and answer it. "Is Rachel here?" "Yeah... Rach?!" Rachel came out of her room to the door and found a very good looking boy standing there. However, to her surprise Rachel did not know this boy. She smiled and the boy said "I hear you are dying?" Rachel smiled and said "Yes, it's been quite the week." The boy smiled and handed her a box of blueberry muffin mix and said "I can't cook but these are the best... my mom makes them." Rachel looked down and saw a note on the box signed Paul. Paul... OH! Alyssa had a date with an old friend from home on Wednesday and had told him that her roommate was sick with the swine flu. Paul had asked Alyssa to tell Rachel to get well soon. Of course! Heather, Rachel and Paul had some pleasant small talk and then with many thanks Paul went on his way. Rachel then got the chance to read the note on the box which started with "Blueberries cure swine flu." Rachel was SO happy. The End.
**Seriously, this is one of the sweetest things that anyone has ever done for me. A boy that I don't even know just brought me muffin mix and a smile. How amazing is that? I really really appreciate all the the small things and little thoughts that people have done for me while I have been sick.
--Also, the happiest thought of the week: my fever broke which means I am not contagious anymore and that means I can leave my bedroom! I am still feeling rather tired and a little achy but as a whole I am so much better.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Swine Flu.
Symptoms: Exhaustion, Headache, Chills followed by Sweaty Hot (aka Fever), Achy all over, Fatigue, Sore Throat, Tummy Ache
Diagnosis: Mostly likely the Swine Flu
Treatment: Sleep and lots of Fluids
Wouldn't you know the girl who loves pigs would go and catch the swine flu? :).
So Saturday night I was really really tired and went to bed quite early. And Sunday I took a nap which is unusual for me even with too little sleep but I'd had plenty the night before. By Sunday evening I was just exhausted and crashed into bed. Monday morning came far too early and I asked the lady I work with if it was Friday yet because I was just so tired. I called Mom between classes and told her I was achy and needed a nap and then I went home after class and intended to take a 30 minute nap and ended up sleeping for almost 3 hours. And didn't feel better at all. After FHE I called Dad and he told me I was a checklist for swine flu and that I needed to go to the doctor in the morning. I got a blessing and slept. I went to the doctor and he said it could be strep or mono or regular influenza or swine flu but the ending conclusion was that it was most likely swine flu and that I needed to sleep and drink lots of water for the next few days until my fever broke and I felt better.
So that's what I have been doing. And especially the sleeping part really hasn't been a problem. The smallest exertions completely wear me out. Example: yesterday I had to straighten my hair in two parts because the flat iron was too heavy. I'm done with my bed. In an attempt to keep my roommates healthy I have spent no more than 10 minutes out of my bed since returning from the doctor Tuesday.
But all in all, I'll be okay. People have been taking such good care of me. Eva went out and got me Ritz and Sunny D because my appetite is slim to none and I was so tired of toast and water. Lyss and Heather are always cheerful and positive and haven't complained about how obnoxious it must be to have to constantly use hand sanitizer and have a sick roommate just lying around. Austin sent me a text to check on how I was feeling and Patrick sent me a text that had me laughing out loud. Lauren made me a get well card and tiptoed into my room to drop it on my bed. Dix found out I was sick and came and waved and said hello and get well from the hallway. A million people have offered dinner or cookies or whatever I could possibly need. And my favorite of all - Claire and Jessica (two girls in my ward) made me a card and brought me a present. It was a rubber duck (like for the bathtub) and the card said "We heard you are feeling sucky... so here's a rubber ducky." It made me laugh so hard and meant so much. The reality is that right now there isn't much I need. I sleep for most of the day and all night and when I'm awake I don't have the energy to do much. I can't leave my room and I'm not really hungry. So there isn't much anyone can do. But the thought from a text or a phone call or an email or a facebook note or a visit or ducky does make a huge difference. It makes me feel so loved and so happy every time and I appreciate that so much. Really just that little bit of thought is the best thing that anyone could do for me right now.
** Note: This is my 100th blog post. How exciting is that? **
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
I love PDBio.
Today in class my professor said this. It made my day and made me laugh. So I wanted to share.
Two hydrogen atoms walked into a bar. One said to the other "I lost my electron." The other said,"Are you sure?" The first replied, "I'm positive."
Oh geez.
I may be a nerd for loving that but I do. I really do. :)
Monday, September 7, 2009
One week later.
I can't believe that the first week of school is already done. For me it seemed to go really quickly! I already said this but it is so different to be a junior. My life holds big things in the next few years and I feel the weight of them in all of the little things and small decisions I am making. But I am so happy to be back with my roommates and friends and into school.
A little bit about my classes...
PDBio 305 - This is a little intimidating, a little overwhelming, but is going to be so amazing. It is human physiology covering all of the organ systems with therefore essentially covers the entire body in one semester. So I'm going to be holding on for the ride. But I'm excited. The body is so amazing. Here is just one example of the things I get to learn this semester. One one-thousand. In that second your body just made 2.5 MILLION red blood cells. 2.5 MILLION. So in the time it will take you to read this entire blog post it will have made bajillions. That is unreal.
NDFS 200 - I love nutrition. So much. This class will be a little bit harder than last semester's because it is essentially covering all of the same material but with more depth. We get to go into the whys and hows of it all. I love how much learning about good nutrition has already made an impact on the way I eat and I really hope I get the opportunity to share that with people around me. I love knowing it.
REL C 325 - I am so excited about this class. I didn't have a religion class last semester and I missed it. I get to study the second half of the Doctrine and Covenants and I have a really great teacher. He is very enthusiastic and witty but also very focused and able to bring the spirit. I am so excited to hear what he can teach me.
SFL 331 - This is Infant Development and is the first of my major classes beyond the core. I am thrilled about this class. For one thing, it is about babies. Seriously does it get any better than that? I don't think so! Also it is a small class which means we will actually get to know each other and have productive discussions.
SFL 100 - I know I have been raving about all of my classes thus far, I think that is because I was able to choose a major and minor that are perfect fits for me. But of all my classes I am most excited to take SFL 100. It is titled Strengthening Marriage and Family and is a semester long class looking at the The Family: A Proclamation to the World. This is such a cool opportunity that I have since I am studying here at BYU. I really think that for my major and especially for my life this will be one of the best classes that I will get to take. And best of all I am taking it from the best professor I have had while at BYU, the same professor who taught my Intro to Human Development class and helped me know that SFL was the major for me.
Besides starting classes there have been a lot of other things going on as well in my busy busy life. So just a few of those things and thoughts...
Exercise. I bought a pass to Gold's Gym. I know that's kinda dumb to pay someone else to let you exercise but to have access to the machines and the classes has already been fantastic and especially come winter time will make a huge difference. I love yoga. So much. I know I've said it before and I'll probably say it again... it is truly one of my favorite things to do. I feel so much better not only physically but emotionally when I leave. So I've started into patterns of exercise this past week and they are going to stick. Period. And being back and school with better eating habits and more exercise has boosted my weight loss again. I had kinda slowed down over summer even though I was using the YMCA. But I'm steadily loosing again and I'm so excited. I am going to reach my goal! So regular exercise will definitely being staying at the top of my to do lists.
Weekend Adventures. I had such a great weekend. It is so much fun to be back with my friends! Friday night I cut apart the beginnings of my PDBio notecards. By the end of the semester there will 2500 of them! Crazy. Then I spent the evening with Patrick. We went up to campus and he played piano for me. (Note: he is so good. I LOVE listening to him play.) Then we played night games with some of his friends and then we went back to his apartment and watched Brian Regan which was so funny. "Daddy, why don't dinosaurs talk?... Because they're dead." :) Haha. Saturday I did Zumba with Alyssa and Eva. I don't know whether I like it or not. Probably I'm leaning more on the not side. Then once I was cleaned up I sat down and I studied and I studied and I studied. I was SO productive! Excluding PDBio I got all of my homework/reading done until next Friday! Then starting at the third quarter I went across the hall and with a whole bunch of people from my ward I watched the BYU/Oklahoma game. Let me tell you, it was so great. BYU (ranked 20) beat Oklahoma (ranked 3) 14-13!!!!!!!!!! I love football. So much. I went out right after the game to run some errands (I needed lettuce and a movie) and can I just say that it is a very very good thing that Mormons don't drink! Provo went CRAZY after the football game. It took me more than 20 minutes to go 5 blocks because of the people in the streets. All of the cars were BLASTING music, boys were flirting shamelessly. Oh I just sat in my car and listened and watched and LAUGHED. It just made me happy. But I was so glad that we weren't all drunk AND crazy excited about winning. That would've been bad! The movie I rented was the Hannah Montana movie and Heather, Victoria, Lauren and I curled up for a good girl's night. You may not like Hannah Montana and that is fine but once again I really enjoy that movie. It is a classic, cheesy, predictable Disney movie but it leaves you with that feel good feeling at the end and I like it. Sunday was of course wonderful. I love love love Sundays! Church was great, I think we have a lot of really wonderful people in our ward. We got to talk about gratitude and family and the pioneers and it was fast Sunday which is always extra good. After church Heather and I played guitar for a while which always makes me happy. I hope I can keep getting better. Then Patrick and I drove up to South Jordan and we had dinner and family night with his family. Best part of the night was getting to hold his new niece, Lucy, who is a week old. Babies are... well I don't know if I have the right word but I just love them so much.
Labor Day. Today was Labor Day. Having a day off of school is always so nice. I slept in a little and then went to the gym and biked 15 miles and ran 2. I did dishes and got ready after that and then Heather and I took Eva's and Lyss's bikes and rode down to the Provo River and read and had a picnic dinner for the evening. That brought the days biking total to 20 miles! I feel awesome! FHE was fun. I love having that every week. And then I got to talk to my mom! What a good day!
Thinking. So I've been thinking a lot. I tend to do that lately. It's a little bit frustrating sometimes but I've got something I wanted to share. The first day of class my religion professor, Brother Richardson said something to the effect of making the choice to be a participant in life versus life happening to me. I really liked that thought and have really been thinking about how to put into action. One of the things I came up with is going to be a goal for this semester. I'm going to be focussing on stress. I am going to make an effort to not stress about things that I don't have control over. If I can change something, do something, etc. about whatever thing then I can stress about that thing. But if it is something that is out of my control, whether it be because of roommates, friends, teachers, work, life, etc... I want to try to not stress about that thing. Because it really is pointless. And then with the things that I know can change I want to make the effort to actually DO something to change that stress. In this way I hope to actually participate in my life rather than just watch things happen to me. I don't know if that actually makes sense, it does in my head.
Anyways the point of all of this is that I'm so happy for what this new year can bring!
A little bit about my classes...
PDBio 305 - This is a little intimidating, a little overwhelming, but is going to be so amazing. It is human physiology covering all of the organ systems with therefore essentially covers the entire body in one semester. So I'm going to be holding on for the ride. But I'm excited. The body is so amazing. Here is just one example of the things I get to learn this semester. One one-thousand. In that second your body just made 2.5 MILLION red blood cells. 2.5 MILLION. So in the time it will take you to read this entire blog post it will have made bajillions. That is unreal.
NDFS 200 - I love nutrition. So much. This class will be a little bit harder than last semester's because it is essentially covering all of the same material but with more depth. We get to go into the whys and hows of it all. I love how much learning about good nutrition has already made an impact on the way I eat and I really hope I get the opportunity to share that with people around me. I love knowing it.
REL C 325 - I am so excited about this class. I didn't have a religion class last semester and I missed it. I get to study the second half of the Doctrine and Covenants and I have a really great teacher. He is very enthusiastic and witty but also very focused and able to bring the spirit. I am so excited to hear what he can teach me.
SFL 331 - This is Infant Development and is the first of my major classes beyond the core. I am thrilled about this class. For one thing, it is about babies. Seriously does it get any better than that? I don't think so! Also it is a small class which means we will actually get to know each other and have productive discussions.
SFL 100 - I know I have been raving about all of my classes thus far, I think that is because I was able to choose a major and minor that are perfect fits for me. But of all my classes I am most excited to take SFL 100. It is titled Strengthening Marriage and Family and is a semester long class looking at the The Family: A Proclamation to the World. This is such a cool opportunity that I have since I am studying here at BYU. I really think that for my major and especially for my life this will be one of the best classes that I will get to take. And best of all I am taking it from the best professor I have had while at BYU, the same professor who taught my Intro to Human Development class and helped me know that SFL was the major for me.
Besides starting classes there have been a lot of other things going on as well in my busy busy life. So just a few of those things and thoughts...
Exercise. I bought a pass to Gold's Gym. I know that's kinda dumb to pay someone else to let you exercise but to have access to the machines and the classes has already been fantastic and especially come winter time will make a huge difference. I love yoga. So much. I know I've said it before and I'll probably say it again... it is truly one of my favorite things to do. I feel so much better not only physically but emotionally when I leave. So I've started into patterns of exercise this past week and they are going to stick. Period. And being back and school with better eating habits and more exercise has boosted my weight loss again. I had kinda slowed down over summer even though I was using the YMCA. But I'm steadily loosing again and I'm so excited. I am going to reach my goal! So regular exercise will definitely being staying at the top of my to do lists.
Weekend Adventures. I had such a great weekend. It is so much fun to be back with my friends! Friday night I cut apart the beginnings of my PDBio notecards. By the end of the semester there will 2500 of them! Crazy. Then I spent the evening with Patrick. We went up to campus and he played piano for me. (Note: he is so good. I LOVE listening to him play.) Then we played night games with some of his friends and then we went back to his apartment and watched Brian Regan which was so funny. "Daddy, why don't dinosaurs talk?... Because they're dead." :) Haha. Saturday I did Zumba with Alyssa and Eva. I don't know whether I like it or not. Probably I'm leaning more on the not side. Then once I was cleaned up I sat down and I studied and I studied and I studied. I was SO productive! Excluding PDBio I got all of my homework/reading done until next Friday! Then starting at the third quarter I went across the hall and with a whole bunch of people from my ward I watched the BYU/Oklahoma game. Let me tell you, it was so great. BYU (ranked 20) beat Oklahoma (ranked 3) 14-13!!!!!!!!!! I love football. So much. I went out right after the game to run some errands (I needed lettuce and a movie) and can I just say that it is a very very good thing that Mormons don't drink! Provo went CRAZY after the football game. It took me more than 20 minutes to go 5 blocks because of the people in the streets. All of the cars were BLASTING music, boys were flirting shamelessly. Oh I just sat in my car and listened and watched and LAUGHED. It just made me happy. But I was so glad that we weren't all drunk AND crazy excited about winning. That would've been bad! The movie I rented was the Hannah Montana movie and Heather, Victoria, Lauren and I curled up for a good girl's night. You may not like Hannah Montana and that is fine but once again I really enjoy that movie. It is a classic, cheesy, predictable Disney movie but it leaves you with that feel good feeling at the end and I like it. Sunday was of course wonderful. I love love love Sundays! Church was great, I think we have a lot of really wonderful people in our ward. We got to talk about gratitude and family and the pioneers and it was fast Sunday which is always extra good. After church Heather and I played guitar for a while which always makes me happy. I hope I can keep getting better. Then Patrick and I drove up to South Jordan and we had dinner and family night with his family. Best part of the night was getting to hold his new niece, Lucy, who is a week old. Babies are... well I don't know if I have the right word but I just love them so much.
Labor Day. Today was Labor Day. Having a day off of school is always so nice. I slept in a little and then went to the gym and biked 15 miles and ran 2. I did dishes and got ready after that and then Heather and I took Eva's and Lyss's bikes and rode down to the Provo River and read and had a picnic dinner for the evening. That brought the days biking total to 20 miles! I feel awesome! FHE was fun. I love having that every week. And then I got to talk to my mom! What a good day!
Thinking. So I've been thinking a lot. I tend to do that lately. It's a little bit frustrating sometimes but I've got something I wanted to share. The first day of class my religion professor, Brother Richardson said something to the effect of making the choice to be a participant in life versus life happening to me. I really liked that thought and have really been thinking about how to put into action. One of the things I came up with is going to be a goal for this semester. I'm going to be focussing on stress. I am going to make an effort to not stress about things that I don't have control over. If I can change something, do something, etc. about whatever thing then I can stress about that thing. But if it is something that is out of my control, whether it be because of roommates, friends, teachers, work, life, etc... I want to try to not stress about that thing. Because it really is pointless. And then with the things that I know can change I want to make the effort to actually DO something to change that stress. In this way I hope to actually participate in my life rather than just watch things happen to me. I don't know if that actually makes sense, it does in my head.
Anyways the point of all of this is that I'm so happy for what this new year can bring!
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