Christmas Delight #4

Messiah Sing-A-Long.

I had never heard of such a thing. Until Katherine threatened me several weeks ago that we ABSOLUTELY HAD TO GO--NO MATTER HOW BUSY WE WERE WITH FINALS. She said that her family has been going for years and that she even owns her own copy of Handel's Messiah. So Monday night, we skipped FHE once again (such delinquents we are) and loaded up in Danger my Ranger with multiple old-copies of the Messiah "borrowed" from the BYU Music Library (we even picked up the copies after hours--Katherine has connections)and drove to the Orem Library. Where we stood and watched 4 Opera singers walk out in front of a half-orchestra and sing their solos-which were amazing-and then when we got to the Chorus parts, everybody sang and sang and sang and sang. It was simply glorious. A wonderful night indeed. I finished it off by driving home the 'scenic route' even though I didn't quite know where I was; I knew that we could see more Christmas lights on houses if we took back roads rather than State Street back to Provo. It was a fun adventure and so. much. fun.

Christmas Delight #1

Utah Valley Bell Choir

Free concert at the Provo Library tonight.

I have always wanted to go to watch a Bell Choir. Actually, one day to be IN a Bell Choir. I think it is so, so cool! I was ecstatic when I found out about this opportunity and it didn't let me down. Babies were everywhere. Children were really funny. Music was fun! And I got to sit on a window sill even to listen because there were no seats available. An excellent start for Christmas and my desire to do a lot of delightful things and FHE.

Oh Boy Did I Luck Out!!! A Night With BYU's Cecil :)

Suite 15 is where it is at!!!! Tonight I went to the BYU mens basketball game at the Jazz's Energy Arena in Salt Lake (against Arizona). John lucked out with 2 special tickets, and after asking several girls and being denied, John decided to take me since I'm always back up. :) Suite 15 just happened to be President Cecil O. Samuelson's suite. For those of you who don't know him, you should. He's the President of BYU and in the Quorum of the 70. With BYU having 30,000 students, it's not very likely that many people get to personally meet the President and especially watch a basketball game with him and his wife. It was so much fun! The suite had delicious food, a cute bar with tables, flat screen tv, 3 rows of seats, a personal bathroom, and random waiters to check on us. With only us, Pres.& Sis. Samuelson and their granddaughter, there was also the Vice President of Athletics (another Q of 70 member) whose wife knows John and was the one who offered the tickets with his wife and daughter also there. I definitely had a wonderful evening with President Cecil O. Samuelson :) I promise I'm not that much of a creeper, but here are some highlights:

-When pulling into the parking garage in salt lake, we let a car in the opposite left lane cut in front of us and then when we pulled in to pay at the booth the guy told us that the car in front of us had payed for our parking!!! So nice, especially at Christmas!

-Shaking President and Sis. Samuelson's hand, visiting with them.

-When Sis. Samuelson leaned over to talk to the other lady and Pres. Samuelson said, "Sharon, watch the game!"

-Hearing Pres. Samuelson talk to all the players quietly under his breath, "Oh jackson!" or "Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right."

-Sis. Samuelson turning around and always saying, "Wait, what just happened?"

-During halftime, when Pres. Samuelson got a personal text showing that Noah Hartsock received a minor concussion and 6 stitches to the upper lip when hit during the first 10 minutes of the game.

-Having special sporting officials checking up on us during the game:)

-After the game, walking through a beautiful Barnes&Noble and reading random books while awaiting traffic to die down. I will always dream of having a beautiful library of gorgeous books one day!

-P.S. Did I mention BYU won?

top ten memories from my wonderful weekend celebrating 7.4.10.

1. Spontaneous trip to visit amazing-beautiful-MMSYO flautist-friends at USF, University of South Florida.

2. Wonderful pictures of the beach that won't load where i swam, played soccer, ultimate, built sand-castles with 9 year-old friend from minnesota.

3. Chilling with native Puerto Ricans and eating amazing food!

4. Of course, having yet ANOTHER becky-stupid-irresponsible-car moment [killing car battery]

5. Pillow talk.

6. Drinking Coke [which i NEVER, EVER, EVER DO]

7. Celebrating bdays:)which includes: good food, movie hopping

8. Bearing a patriotic testimony in random ward in Sacrament Meeting AND getting blessed by a Priest at Catholic Mass.

9. Sparklers in the hot tub!!!

10. AMAZING QUOTES; all said with good intentions. i promise. multiple meanings.
"I read the entire Bible when I was younger..............because I was bored."
"There's a flat tire on the mellons!"
"Do you not feel me? Do you not feeeeeeeeeeeeeel me?"
"My dad wants to marry me."
"She wet my bed."
"Oh, I'll be scared..........and giddy."
"So all you can do is hug, kiss, and hold hands?".....new person, "Well, what else is there?"

why is the best always saved for last?

Will the best always be saved for last? It seems like everything kinda follows this unspoken rule about life. Just think back to being a child and hearing your parents tell you that you can't have dessert until you've finished everything. I mean, I hear all the time from lots of grown ups that marriage gets better after every year (its mama&poppa watts anniversary). And eternal life is suppose to be the best and its saved for last. I can seriously keep going with these examples. In my case, my favorite memories from EFY would always be from the last couple of days-right when we are about to leave. Which leads me to this blog. Life has really been amazing. I love my freshman year, my ward, and my friends that I have made. I have done so much the last few weeks with friends! Besides being a psycho-study-aholic most of the time, here are a few pictures from one amazing night after our Saturday night Session of Stake Conference:
Spending time with my favorite cousin(and roommate!). :)

watching a movie outside with friends.








Going to Denny's after the Saturday Night session of stake conference with some of my best friends. Where we connected a bunch of straws and had fun with a ginormous communal straw:)no worries mom-none of us had mono...













Ye, my meal was great!! And while I was gone with Bales picking up Mike from work, my wonderful friends decided to put Tabasco sauce ALL over my sandwhich. Fortunately, I didn't notice and ate the whole thing.



Haha...so we had a syrup shot contest with the boys that got pancakes!! Oh how I love Mormons.

At Denny's there is an all-you-can-eat pancake meal. The record before we got to Denny's was only 6 HUGE pankcakes. Some boys decided to take the challenge and beat the record. We were all so proud of them! :) So was the manager, who was very nice and visited our table often to talk:)

FHE

Last semester I was FHE Mom and loved my calling! My family was kinda like The Office. We all had interesting personalities and loved each other. Here's a picture of one of our typical Monday nights.

This year, Katie (my amazing roomate and cousin) took my place as FHE mom. Although I miss my old group, I love my new family. Last Monday we went to Bro. Quist's house for FHE. It was so much fun to see him with his family and be in his home. (He's the 2nd counselor in the Bishopbric). We had a lesson, played a game, hung out in his house and ate really good homemade ice cream and brownies!

tunnel singing :)

A group from my ward decided to go tunnel singing last sunday night.
BYU has a ton of tunnels!

It was so much fun to be singing our favorite hymns with 4 part harmony.

I love my freshman ward! :)