Bank Error

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Do you see the Monopoly man's face on the card?

That was EXACTLY how I looked like this afternoon.

You can even ask Gianna. She was with me when all of this happened.

Here's what happened.

I went to check my bank account this afternoon during my class break and discovered that a $1000 deposit had been made into my account. Upon further investigation I found that the money came from UNLV. I'd already received my tuition refunds and I hadn't set up direct deposit with payroll so this couldn't be from work. I honestly had no idea what the money could be. When I looked in my Financial Center through UNLV's website all it said was Scholarship. But I hadn't applied for any scholarships.

Anticipating an error [UNLV recently charged most of my cohort an extra $1500 in tuition by mistake] I called the financial aid & scholarships office. I didn't want to spend $1000 just to find out that I actually needed to return it to UNLV.

I explained to the woman in Financial Aid that I recently had $1000 unexpectedly deposited in my account. She immediately asked if I was a graduate student and when I replied yes, she explained that the Graduate College had ended up with some extra funds and so had created a scholarship to distribute the funds to certain students. Now, I have no idea why I would qualify. Yes, I am a poor college student. Yes, I got a 4.0 last semester. Yes, I am a GA. But I am sure that there are plenty of people who meet those qualifications. I intend to call the Grad College tomorrow and find out exactly what went down. But in the meantime I asked her to confirm that this was no mistake and she reassured me that she had spoken to multiple people today to explain the situation and that the money was indeed mine.

$1000. Magically in my bank account.

Tell me you wouldn't have made the bank error in your favor face too.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to use it to pay off some of the student loans I have out. Or maybe pay off part of my house. Richard [my roommate Kate's fiance] thinks I should buy a new MacBook, which is terribly terribly tempting.

No matter how it ends up getting used I couldn't be more grateful. I can't think of anything nicer than having unexpected money in your life. Particularly of the variety that has multiple zeros at the end.

Other awesome things about today: I started working with a personal trainer. I'm serious this time. I'm going to finish. And I'm going to do it now. My word for the year was accountability and this is one of the ways that I am choosing to be accountable. Also, I got to do another observation in the clinic. I'm feeling so much less anxious and so much more excited about seeing clients in May. Also, before we did our observation Gianna and I went to dinner. I think she is such a stellar girl. I love my cohort. They are teaching me so much about life and better ways to think and to be plus are so encouraging and awesome when it comes to school and preparing for the future. It was crazy windy today. Like even for an Idaho girl who grew up listening to the wind roar. And I loved it. It made the evening chilly but it was fun. Less awesome but hilarious: I got terrified by a tiny dog on my way into my house tonight. It came out from under the porch in front of me and I jumped out of my skin. And raspberry sorbet. Oh my goodness yum. And in general news: Mitt Romney won Idaho's caucuses [and some other states]. Mom voted. She said it was fun.

Things That Make Me Happy

NOTE: The only cohesion to the following pictures is that they make me happy. There is no other rhyme or reason to why they are together in a blog post.

Things That Make Me Happy 

Going on Dates

This was from a date night my roommates and I (& Tayte) planned. The Provo Library puts on a live version of Clue for free so we did that, Pizza and Clue the Movie. So much fun. Me and my date (Mitchell) totally won. 

Being a Celebrity 

These are from our ward FHE Oscars Night. Each group made a video and we watched them all. The picture on the left is my I'm-too-famous-to-even-give-you-a-smile face. In the right, you can admire my zebra heels and my calf muscle. :)

A quiet night at home

A Fruitista Freeze from Taco Bell that was ALMOST like a snow cone. Green tree tops and a spring storm. A clean apartment. It doesn't get much better. Really. 

Boys

Sometimes boys are obnoxious (they have cooties, you know) but most of the time boys make me happy. Especially ones like Tayte and Russell who make me laugh til it hurts braiding my roommates hair. 

Sensuous Sandwich

K. First off the name of the shop is Sensuous Sandwich. It has to be delicious. Second off. I'm still not sure whether I'm impressed or grossed out but Tayte and Russell did a two foot challenge. A 2 foot sandwich in 30 minutes. They rocked it.

Warm Weather and Hiking

I love nothing more than sunshine. There's a lot of reasons I'm going to Las Vegas for grad school. And one of them is definitely the sun. Being able to take a hike made my weekend. I was so happy. Yes, I had a storybook. [Long story - it was in my bag to keep things from poking me]. Yes, those are my friends. :)

Aubrey

This girl makes me SO happy. Enough said. 

It's a BEAUTIFUL day...

I was walking in to work this morning and couldn't help but think to myself that today is a BEAUTIFUL day.


It's not because the sun is shining. Because it's actually cloudy and grey.

It's not because it's warm. Because the wind actually made it kinda chilly this morning.

It's not because the leaves are turning green. Because they aren't yet.

It's not because I was on time to work. Because I wasn't. But only by a few minutes.

It's not because I got enough sleep. Because I didn't. Sometimes going to bed just isn't the priority.

It's not because this is an easy week. Because I have a lot of papers and exams in the next few days.

It's not because I lost a shoe and had Prince Charming come to the rescue. Because I actually did lose my shoe crossing the street this morning, but there wasn't a boy in sight.



It's because spring is ALMOST here and you can positively smell it in the air.

It's because I thought about life as a worm today and decided I'm much happier as a Rachel.

It's because now that I'm mostly caught up with life, I can go back to the gym today!

It's because I'm wearing size 10 jeans!!!!!!!!!!!

It's because I have wonderful friends who fill my life with happiness and set incredible examples for me.

It's because I went bobsledding this weekend with two of my best friends and a new one.

It's because my parents are coming to visit soon! Groceries and hugs all around!

It's because I have a new commitment to be better. [CES Fireside - Elder Perry - Awesome].

It's because I graduate in 45 days. I can do that much more.

It's because even though I have no idea what is happening in my life I KNOW that Heavenly Father is listening and patiently guiding me.

That's why it's a beautiful day.

Hope your day is beautiful too!

Sometimes...

Sometimes... a pedicure is all you need to make the world look so much better. Especially one on Valentine's Day with roommates.

Sometimes... all you can do to help a friend is bring over Magelby's chocolate cake and gerber daisies. It might induce crying first. But it will help in the end.

Sometimes... taking 2.5% off for a late grade is worth it to take time to visit a friend, go to FHE and go to the gym instead of writing your paper.

Sometimes... you expect your life to be an awful week and then your professor moves your huge paper deadline to Tuesday.

Sometimes... during the winter you get to sit outside in the sun and be warm and happy inside. And it makes your life INCREDIBLE.

Sometimes... one of the professors you work with catches you when you are dancing on the street corner to your iPod in the morning on the way to school.

Sometimes... you see Jimmer Fredette from across campus and you get a little excited because it's like seeing someone famous. :)

Sometimes... your job requires you run circles between the Army and Battelle to try to get one of the professors paid for work he was doing for them.

Sometimes... your roommate needs you so you run and drive through a weirdy rain/snow storm to find her.

Sometimes... Provo weather likes to tease girls like me by bringing Springish weather and then by stealing it back with a windy and wet night.

Sometimes... you spend 20 minutes talking about pop culture with your roommate and come to the conclusion that Billy Rae Cyrus needs to own up to his own failure as a dad and not blame Disney and also that Lady Gaga should NOT have spent 72 hours incubating in her egg before the Grammy's.

Sometimes... you get to work out with two of your best friends which makes it so much happier and makes you work so much harder. 

Sometimes... a different friend brings you friendship bread which defeats the purpose of going to the gym but tastes so good so you say, eh, whatever.

Sometimes... country music makes life so good.

Sometimes... you have to figure out how to get your hunter's education done in Utah even though you live in Idaho so that your uncle will stop bugging you. 

Sometimes... you read the PERFECT blogpost to make you feel fabulous. 

Sometimes... you procrastinate packing by writing a blog. :)

Things that make me happy:

Currently what makes me very happy is that my room is a fort. I came home one night after a particularly hard and long day and found my roommate in the process of putting it together. We had talked about how awesome it would be for a long time but she actually did it. It's been up for more than a week now and we have no intentions of taking it down anytime soon. Pretty much awesome. I love it. I also love that we definitely passed a cleaning check with it that way. Favorite. This picture also makes me very happy. Andrea and Aubrey are very good friends to me. [Also Christine, she just isn't in the picture.]

Going home makes me happy. Megan and I just up and decided we were going to go home this weekend and so we did. It happened to work out with midterms and life and so we left. :) We also took Jenni with us. I love roadtrips. Especially when I'm not driving. I love listening to music and singing at the top of my lungs. I love sleeping and having miles magically gone. 

And most of all I love getting where you were trying to get to.  Ignore all the bugs on the windshield. But look how beautiful my home is. Happiness. :) The best part was that my siblings had no idea we were coming and Karl literally screamed like a little girl when he saw us at the front door.

Marching band makes me happy. We spent Saturday at the DIII competition watching Karl. I miss it so much. The performing. Not the high school part. I do not want to go back for anything. Really I can think of a thousand things off the top of my head that I would rather do. But being a part of a team, of a band, of a group is something really unique. And I miss it.

Also, being at the smurf turf at BSU makes me happy. I love the blue turf. I've marched on it many times and love it. It's home to me. I also love that BSU is doing so well in football and would like to point out that it is completely ridiculous that they got leapfrogged in the rankings this week. On the same note it makes me happy that BYU didn't get shut out against TCU. I knew they couldn't win but I'm so glad they scored.

Tie-dye makes me happy. Also, my FHE family makes me happy. We have fun. :) And a new sugar cookie recipe makes me happy.









Finally, fall at BYU makes me so happy. I love wearing fall clothes. I love seeing the mountains all brown and orange. I love that the leaves are starting to change on campus.

Also please note this view includes the Talmage building. I apparently live there now. I'd like to say it makes me happy but really it's a love-hate relationship.

Basically life makes me happy. :)