It has been far too Long..

So as the title says it has been far too long since I have posted anything. Sorry! With school finishing up it was so crazy! In honor of finishing my first year of College I decided to make a list of things I learned at BYU. Here it goes!

1. You can sleep when you are dead.
2. Classes will always give you more reading than they expect you to finish.
3. Meet with your professors especially if you plan to go to graduate school. They are your future ticket into the school of your choice.
4. To get an A it will take time. Be patient.
5. Your first semester is really about figuring things out. Don't freak out at your grades even if you got all A's in high school.
6. Never say Never. Anything can happen... it's college.
7. Just because it is April doesn't mean that mother nature believes it is spring and it will continue to snow.
8. Don't put away your winter clothes too early... in other words don't put them away at all!
9. BYU is really nerdy and they celebrate Pi day like it is a national holiday.
10. Freshman mentoring is marginally helpful at best and only useful in you first semester.
11. Take honors courses! They are the best and have awesome teachers.
12. You will probably cry, a lot, get used to it.
13. Sometimes being spontaneous is the best thing. Like going to the park and making giant snowballs.
14. Check the water pitcher before you drink out of it. Vinegar is also clear and not nearly as refreshing as a cold tall glass of water.
15. When you check the pitcher do not ask Liz to drink it for you. She will drink it vinegar or no vinegar and leave you sputtering nasty "water".
16. On April Fools be especially careful when using the toilet.
17. Be brave! Sometimes asking a professor for a job may be the best thing that ever happened to you.
18. Ok professors can be really scary but they are willing to work with you when you need it. Well most of them anyway so it doesn't hurt to try.
19. Religion classes may be your only A's
20. Pull out all the mattresses and have a girls night watching Grey's Anatomy sometime. Way fun.
21. When you say you aren't going to get a boyfriend, you may just meet the love of your life. <3
22. Girls can be catty and mean. End of story.
23. Don't judge a book by it's cover. This goes for people too. They may surprise you and end up being your best friend before long.
24. If you get easily distracted it may be time to be tested. :P
25. BYU basketball is a Beast! I <3 Jimmer but most of all Abuou is my main man.
26. Don't jaywalk in front of the police station they will yell at you and may give you a ticket.
27. Learn to love the library. It will be your new home soon enough.
28. During finals week the Library is far too crowded with people who finally decide to be studious. Good luck finding a seat.
29. You will get sick following finals no matter how vigilant your hygiene routine.
30. If you are a girl, your shower/tub will turn into a Shub. No matter how many times maintenance comes it will continue to fill up and drain slowly.
31. Whoever though 8:30 church was a brilliant idea was dead wrong.
32. It is mandatory to hike the Y at least once during your freshman year.
33. Stay outside as much as you can while it is still warm. This will be the only time that you can stay outside until all hours without freezing to death.
34. Most BYU dances are kinda lame but Homecoming and Preference definitely are awesome.
35. Yes BYU's football team may leave a lot to be asked of but we still love them.
36. Late summer honors is an easy 1 credit course. Plus you get to see the campus before the rest of the freshies get there.
37. The Marb is way confusing and I will never understand the layout of that building.
38. Always check which floor you are on when you enter a building it ranges from 1st to 3rd floor. Rarely do you enter on the first floor.
39. If your classroom is in the basement of any building good luck getting phone service.
40. Taking notes on a laptop is the best! Typing is so much faster and you can keep up with the professor speaking.
41. Math finals are uber hard. end of story
42. Try your best and the Lord will do the rest
43. Don't freak out about your major especially those freshman boys, you have plenty of time to make up your mind and you will most likely switch it 3 or more times.
44. Cake is amazing!
45. Cooking can be fun so try it
46. Meal plans are heaven sent especially when you are short on time and don't want to live off cereal, which you do anyway.
47. Music is the best way to stay awake while studying.
48. Prepare to be awake until 5am on average writing papers the night before they are due even though you had 2 weeks to do the paper.
49. Dirty Peppers are the fuel to stay awake while writing those papers.
50. There is no caffeine campus so you must search elsewhere to get the "real" soft drinks
51. Learn all the acronyms for the buildings.
52. The campus is pretty big. If your first class is in the Maeser building you are hiking to the outer regions of campus.
53. The testing center is the holiest place on campus due to all the prayers said there.
54. The best feeling in the world is looking up on that tv to see your score and seeing "Great Job!" or "Perfect Score".
55. There will be many disappointing test scores. Pray for a good curve
56. American Heritage will put you to sleep every day without fail.
57. Religion classes are actually really awesome and nothing like seminary.
58. Don't go to the Cougareat between the hours of 11am and 1pm it is a zoo and lines are far too long.
59. Quarters are gold and vital if you want to get your laundry done.
60. No matter how many times you wash something or dry it, it will never be truly clean.
61. It is really exciting to see all your guy friends getting their mission calls but also sad.
62. Dorms are dirty, dingy, and dark. Welcome to your living condition for the next 4 years.
63. Visiting Hours are enforced strictly, best to just stick to them.
64. RAs may seem cool and nice at first but beware they can be mean under all that "niceness".
65. When a girl says "Yeah we should hang out some time." She doesn't really want to.
66. Divine comedy is amazing and you should go to every show.
67. When a guy says "Yeah we should hang out some time" he wants to date you.
68. The dollar movie nights in the Varsity theater are fun cheap dates.
69. haha... 69... if you were in my dorm you'll understand this and all of our constant innuendos.
70. I am so glad I went to BYU. I definitely made the right choice. Yes mormons can be some of the most judgmental people you will meet but they are truly good people too. I am a true Cougar and I bleed Blue. My testimony grew so much this year and for that I am eternally grateful.

Well there you have it 70 things I learned. Yes it's long but there is just so much to say. Hope you had fun reading and there will be more coming soon....

Random Fact: Hippopotamuses break wind through their mouths.

Texting Etiquette 101

This is a common sight across BYU's campus. If it isn't someone texting it is someone on their phone, ipod, or some other electronic device. Now I don't remove myself from this group of tech savvy people at all, no far from that. The only time it really bothers me is when I am in the library studying and about 10 feet from me is someone talking loudly on their phone. I don't mind the constant hum of text messages flying about but seriously? If the call is that important please take it out to the stairwell. Little things like this common courtesy are being lost in society as "cell phone" etiquette is modified and then eventually just forgotten.

Then there are few things that just get ridiculous. In a group of people there will always be that one person who is texting the entire time. I'm a firm believer that on dates especially you shouldn't be texting other people. If it is really urgent then yes there are exceptions but you are with someone else, a live person, someone who obviously wants to get to know you better and to be carrying on a conversation with someone else at that time is just plain rude. There is no other way to put it.

The scariest of all is people who text and drive. I don't care how important that person texting you is. Under no circumstances is it worth it to put your own life and others lives at risk for a texting conversation. So please never do this. If someone I am riding with starts to do this I will simply ask them to put the phone away. It makes me so nervous!

Here are a few texting rules:

1. NEVER TEXT AND DRIVE! EVER!

2 Don't text on a date.

3. If you want to have a serious conversation call the person or even better go and visit them!

4. Never use texting lingo like in the comic. It is lame and immature.

5. When walking across campus while trying to text people please keep in mind that others are around you and say sorry if you run into someone. (can't tell you how many times this has happened to me)

6. In social settings it's ok to text occasionally but if you are with a group of people your main attention should be on them.

7. Be mindful of other people's schedules and if they don't text you back right away don't get upset. There is probably a good reason.

8. If someone takes the time to text you a long message and you answer back with Hey or another simple phrase this is an instant turn off.

9. While in class don't laugh/chuckle/etc at your phone. It is distracting.

10. Be aware of the tone of your text message. Things can be taken the wrong way if you aren't careful. This includes all those emoticons like ;-)  :) or :P

Well there you have it. If you want to see the full size of the comic go here: comic
Hope you can take a few of these into consideration. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I know I will. See ya...

Random Fact: The leading cause of deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 4 is motor vehicle crashes.