confessions of a now college junior..

oh hey blog world. sorry i haven't said anything interesting lately, i don't blame you if you forgot about me. finals week + raleigh's wedding + moving out = disorganized chaos, much worse than my usual organized chaos. i successfully failed a couple finals, forgot half my possessions in madison five, ended an old job and started a new/old one (good old ace!), turned grandma j's house into my closet.. not a room the whole house, and got my first tan lines of the summer.
this semester was a beaut, with all i could ask for in a winter semester- having close friends and a chance to be really comfortable being myself around them. so far both my years at byu have followed the same pattern. first i make friends and my social life is somewhat all over the place and i wonder what is going to come of it all, then i settle down and have a group that i always want to be with.
now that i may or may not be half way through my byu education (pending my major and determination).. there's some things i wish i would have known two years ago.

-start off strong, and it will be easier to finish strong. 
i wish i would have gotten more involved in the beginning, because now i feel like it will be harder to establish myself. really, this is just fear, but for my personality i would have thrived if i would have jumped right into things.

-don't be afraid to ask for help. 
i think this semester particularly taught me that i can't do everything on my own. my last day of this school year i spent ten hours, almost straight, in the math lab studying. i studied for every test in there and i was able to not only do better, but make some random friends along the way. it's just easier to get things done in those horrible things.


-introduce yourself.
don't be a wallflower and wait for people to come to you. if you're at a party, go make friends. simple conversations starters about names, hometowns, and majors can be the start of friendships. or if nothing else you may see them on campus and be able to say hi. if you don't know your neighbors.. get to know them. sometimes you don't really care, but sometimes you'll regret not branching out at the end of the year.

-make a friend in every class. 
it makes studying and missing notes so much easier. just do it. 

-get your crap figured out. 
go to an advisement center and get on a track. even if you don't know your major, have a goal and take classes that matter. this past semester i'm like the business advisement center's #1 client i swear.

-be open minded. 
to everything- you major, friends, activities, dates.. try everything and have a good attitude. i used to be so sheltered and i never wanted to venture out of my comfort zone. i didn't like things i wasn't good at and i never wanted to even do some of the things i was good at because i didn't want to disappoint if i wasn't as good as people expected. now i just do them, because who cares? no one is good at everything and no one expects that from you. new hobby this year from doing this- long boarding. thanks for teaching me kenz!

-financially have goals. 
sure, you're a poor college student, but you could probably be poorer. i wish i would have taken better care of my money, starting in high school. i would have saved more and spent less. and remember that $2,000+ i got at graduation? i would have put it towards something real. not to say i wasted that money.. i used it for my computer and tuition, but now that i'm going on a study abroad i wish this would have always been a goal of mine and i always would have been putting away a little bit at a time so now i wasn't so desperate to make it work.

-get a mac. 
i understand a mac isn't a reasonable computer for everyone, but i know i've had far less problems than friends with pc's. i'm hard on computers and use them a lot so it was an 100% worthwhile investment for me.

maybe you agree, maybe you don't.. but that's what i've learned so far.
viva la summer baby!

just call me lilly.

yep. it's finals week. yep. i leave tomorrow. yep. i still have one more test to take. yep. i still have to pack. yep. i still have to do my job for cleaning checks. yep. i'm blogging and using my time wisely. 

(side note- i did half of this post and then actually focused when i was done packing, and now am en route to HOME. currently in denver!) 


things you should know: 

i just cleaned out my backpack and stored old books and notebooks. i sold back one book, and got $3. SCORE!

i'm a member of a new exclusive harry potter club. i'm lilly potter. everyday we pick a new spot to study. details in a sec. 

i underperformed on every single one of my tests. that takes skill. 

i made new friends. they are also apart of the HP club. i would like to blame them for my lack of sleep this week. (bed times: sunday: 3 am, monday 2:30 am, tuesday 5 am, wednesday 3 am)

i CANNOT wait to see my family. they are so cute. every day my mom tells me how excited she is an usually something that a sibling said about me coming home. abby sends me emails and that make me even more excited. 

i have not been home since july, and that was when the flood was just about to get done "peaking," so i'm excited to see my house/community/state not in a state of disaster and my backyard filled with snow- not sand bags!

monday study- 4th floor of the JKB. it was one of the better spots.

tuesday- 2nd floor of the JKB. chamber of secrets. first official meeting of the club.

wednesday- 4th floor of the JFSB. dumbledore's office. real official. favorite spot. 

study activities:

library. where we went to study play football. see video below.

posed harry potter character pictures

if you're not done with finals, i'm so so sorry. i suggest locking yourself in a room for a few hours to study. i kindaaa wish i would have done that. bad idea to have friends finals week. what was i thinking? 


happy christmas, muggles!

obsessed.

don't hate, but i'm obsessed with elf. i have watched it three times in the past three days, after buying it for $6 at target on black friday.
i am crediting my calm, cool, and collected attitude to it as finals week is quickly approach.
good news- one more week of classes!
..bad news- one more week until finals!

here are the things that are making me smile this week, other than elf obviously:
-a friend catching me off guard as a walk to class and reminding me to smile
-talking to my little brother sam on the phone and catching up on his life
-a tear away chain to countdown to christmas
-eating mallow magic popcorn, bought in provo, ut but made in sioux city, ia. represent.
-cute "miss you" texts from cute people
-finding a chocolate in my jacket pocket
-the thought of snow this weekend
-blasting christmas music


moral of this story: if you can't not multitask like me- turn on elf and start your paper. you don't even really have to pay attention, but then you'll hear those one liners and you'll remember everything will be okay. :)
here's a free printable i found that will promptly be hanging up in our living room. enjoy!

printable cred:X