The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters

"... a fringe of leafy treetops whose green is just succumbing to yellow. I love this time of year. I love how the moment the leaves reach their brightest color, they fall. Maybe this fragility is what makes a golden maple so beautiful; you know the next time you look the gold will be gone, the branches black and bare".

So...

I lied. I am currently signed up for 18 credits. Again. I am either crazy or stupid, or both.

Adios...

Well, with the exhausting completion of this week, the semester is over. Goodbye Fall 2008! It's hard. It seems that everyone around me is celebrating that it's over, and I can agree that I'm thrilled to be done with finals and everything, but it's hard. I have trouble letting go of good things, and this semester was a good thing.
The beginning of this semester killed me. It was just after the end of summer, and I had this freak out about the summer being over. I just loved everything about it so much. Always having a best friend around, working, doing whatever I wanted, CAFHE, midnight food runs, volleyball, pool pavillion evenings, breaking into rooms, and dance parties... I loved it. And all of a sudden I was in this apartment with four girls that seemed like they didn't even want me around, and they all knew each other... I was mourning. I missed everyone. I missed every single person that I worked with, some more than others, but it really messed me up. And so classes started, and I remember being glad that I was taking 18 credits and working like crazy because I wasn't thinking, and as long as I wasn't thinking I wasn't crying. Seriously all that I wanted to do every night was cry. I wanted to cry when I was at Hayley's. It was just hard.
And then everything started to come together. Actually, at first it was only Jeff. Jeff's reaching out that first day in chemistry really saved me. Becoming friends with Nate and Jeff saved me. I would have spent the entire semester lamenting the loss of summer, hating the changing leaves and the snow, but they were there, everyday. They became my friends... my life lines. They showed me that there were other friends out there awaiting me after the great ones I had previously had. It helps me to know that next semester there will also be new great friends to get to know. It doesn't mean that I have to let go of the old ones, but I gain new ones. If it weren't for Nate and Jeff, I would have hated chemistry. I'd hate having to do so much for it, and struggle, all by myself. I'd hate the labs and reviews. I probably just wouldn't have gone to anything, and I would have failed the class. I don't think that anyone quite understands how much I was praying at the beginning of the semester, and how strongly I feel that my Heavenly Father answered my prayers through them, through that first, "Hi, I'm Jeff. Jessica, this is Nate."
And then the semester continued to get better with the roommates. It stopped being these girls that didn't know or like me, to these girls that I just love to be around. I'm so sad that Sandi has to leave, because I've really come to liking her. Sandi is just crazy and vibrant, and so good to joke with. Becky is the nicest person I've ever met. I just love her. She's one of those genuinely good people that you don't hate for it. And Rebecca went from being the antisocial weird roommate to the Nerts dominating, braces wearing fiend that we know and love her as. Mandee... we're still waiting on. And Maury, we all know how much I love her. Even when she breaks the door because I'm eating ice cream. ;) Hopefully Joanna will fit in, yes?
Well, I know that my GPA isn't nearly as high as I wanted it to be this semester, but towards the end I just got so tired. Next semester I plan on taking no more than 16 credits, and just relaxing a little more. Just a little breathing room. Chem 106 and 107, O Chem, Welsh, Music Civ... it'll be a nice easy semester. Hopefully.

Snow Hike!

Last night I went on a snow hike with Becky, Dave and Marie. We bundled up and hit Sundance for a little late night stroll.
My favorite part was when we were driving into the parking lot, and Dave was like, "I'm trying to figure out how much snow is on the ground." I replied with, "It looks like a lot to me!". To which his reply was, "Where are you from, again?"... "Southern California."
So it was 13 degrees outside, but it was so much work that I was way overheated. And I really just couldn't keep up with my extremely physically fit friends. So after about 20 minutes of hiking we rested for a long time, and then we hiked back down the mountain.
Then Becky and Dave decided that they wanted to do back flips off of the outhouse, so they climbed up on the roof. However, the process of moving the snow somehow made the pungent odor even more repulsive and pungent. To the point that I was several yards away and could still smell it. And taste it.
We climbed back into Dave's Suburban and went home for hot cocoa and a little Harry Potter before bed.

P.S.

I hate finals. And I hate saying goodbye even more.

But I do love roommate Christmas cards!

White Elephant Night

Saturday night Nate hosted a White Elephant Gift Exchange party. He told me that I could bring my roommates, which I loved, and when I brought it up to them... they were all busy. So I asked him if I could bring my dear friends Boyd and HD, to which he... hesitated. What was this? "Do you not like Boyd? Is it because they're weird? Is it because he's older?". To which Nate simply replied that they could come. As long as they brought the entrance fee.
So at 8:30 Boyd and HD came over, and we wrapped up the gifts that I had found lying around my room. Our spoils: modeling clay, beach balls, and ant traps. We then proceeded to head over to Nate's... in the snow.
Upon our arrival we sat on a couch. Yes. That's all we really did. Sit on a couch. Nate kept walking by and telling us to be social, and we continued to sit on the couch. When Boyd left to move the car, Nate came by again and had Hayley and I follow him around to be introduced to everyone. We then stayed standing in the kitchen, hoping that someone would talk to us, but no one did. And then Boyd came in, and we continued standing in the kitchen. And Nate continued to tell us to be social. So we moved closer to everyone next to the table... and no one talked to us. We were fine with it, but again, Nate kept trying to get us to make friends.
Then we played the White Elephant game. I got the coolest Newsie hat ever. And I'm way excited about it. And who got the ant traps? The girl who's husband got the kitten bookmark. Nice.
Then we went downstairs to watch Elf. And no one wanted to sit next to Boyd on the futon, although it was by far the most comfortable seat in the basement. Their loss. Boyd's my hero. After the movie we took off.
Later that night Nate sent me a message on Facebook about the Boyd and HD situation. He said that he didn't think that they were weird and that he didn't dislike them, he just didn't want us to be antisocial together. Which was exactly what we were. Isn't it funny how people know you better than you think they do? And isn't it funny how much people hate being a disappointment to others?

The Bishop's Ball

Me, Rebecca, Mandee and Marie

Us with the Grinch!

So, the fun and exciting people that we are, my roommates and I decided to go to the Bishop's Ball. Translation: our ward's prom. It's just an excuse for girls to dress up in their (hopefully old) formals and dance the night away. I was thinking about bringing a date, but I got scared, and luckily decided to go with my roommates instead.

Dinner was supposed to start at seven, so of course, we left our apartment at seven. We get there about ten or fifteen minutes later, claim a table, and run to find the food. It was good. Or at least as good as it can be in bulk. No, it was good. There were these delicious rolls, yummy cheesy potatoes, baked chicken, and salad. And awesome butter pats, too! So Rebecca, Marie and I sit down at the table and we're already done with our food by the time Mandee and Jordan come back from the line. And we wanted seconds.

After dinner there was a dessert, with choices from brownies, spice cake, and fruit tarts. I went with the brownies. Marie kindly ate my left over crumbs and frosting. Thanks, dear! ;)

Then the bishop started talking about the "young people" in the ward. When he was done his wife started going on about this song she had heard on the radio, about Jesus loving broken people. Then she played it for us. Marie and I didn't quite get that it was supposed to be this spiritually uplifting moment, so we just sat and laughed the whole time, much to Rebecca's dismay.

When she finally finished, the dancing portion of the evening started. Marie ran over to get more dessert, because she claimed that if she were eating, no one would ask her to dance. I told her that we wouldn't have a problem with that without the dessert, and thirty seconds later some guy was next to me asking me to dance with him. And then there was some guy asking Marie to dance. And Rebecca was left alone to clean up. Now, the original plan was to eat and leave. However, Rebecca wanted to listen to a song or two, and we had to take a picture with the blow up Grinch, so we stayed. And subsequently, Adam, who is shorter than I am, asked me to dance. So we start dancing, and his arm was way up my back. Like almost on my shoulder. So my arm was like, resting on top of his, creating this really awkward... thing. And because his arm was bent so tightly, we were much too close for my liking. Much too close. Luckily, the song ended quickly and we took our Grinch picture and ran out as fast as possible. 'Twas terrific.

Happy Spectacular 20 to Me!

So this past Saturday I turned the big Two-Oh.

Friday night I started celebrating a little early with Boyd and Hayley. After my ward's talent show, Boyd, Hayley and I made gingerbread houses! We got graham crackers, vanilla frosting, and various candy and made nice little houses. Boyd made a temple/manger scene, complete with an angel Moroni. Hayley made a reindeer looking house, and I made an adobe.

Saturday I woke up early to go to a chemistry review. I was a little late, and luckily, Jeff had a table already. But it was full, except for one seat. So I sat between him and Jasmine. Nate didn't show up. After 15 minutes, I sent him a text message. 45 minutes later he responded by asking if it would even be worth coming. We had only covered one out of five chapters, so I went ahead and let him know that he should come. And he did. And he sat on the floor, as there were no chairs at the table. And some guy gave him a chair, so he tried to fit around the table but it didn't really work. He was definitely grumpy, and had to eat a couple of granola bars. And then he got really hyper like. Nate, my friend: you are something else. Overall, the review was definitely helpful, and that's probably the only reason why I passed the test. Best part of the review? Jeff admitting that he may have a girlfriend. When I asked him what her name was, he said: "It's... a secret". Jeff. What a guy.

Nate gave me a ride home from the review, and we got to listen to some interesting Muppet-esque music on the way. ("It's a fugue.")

Then I just hung out at my apartment for awhile, and then Jacob called. He made it clear that my mom really wasn't talking to me, and that she was demanding an apology. The conversation ended in me sobbing, and Jacob screaming that he'd have her call me, and that I needed to calm down. He's such a sweet brother. The worst part is that my mother didn't call on my birthday. Two years ago Jacob didn't call her on Mother's Day, and she still holds it over his head. What gives her the right to do to me what she still holds against one of us for doing to her? She's ridiculous. That's all there is to it. The whole situation is ridiculous, and being blown way out of proportion.

So I'm sitting in my room sobbing and Marie comes in. All I could think was "story of my life". I looked at Marie and saw that she was about to cry. "Why are you crying?" I asked. "I'm not... yet". She then went on to tell me how she may have burnt one of the cakes. This caused me to crack up. And I couldn't stop laughing. So she brought it over, and it was burnt on the sides. We decided that we could just perform surgery on it and cut the bad part off. But how did I get so lucky as to have a roommate who is as wonderfully caring and loving as Marie?

So to cheer me up we made frosting together, and frosted the cakes during the BYU/Utah game.

The game was running longer than I had expected, so I didn't really expect anyone to show up on time. However, Jeremy arrived at 7, and Nate soon after, with Rochelle soon after that. Amanda came, too. After the game we played Nerts for awhile. Marie spanked everyone! My favorite parts of the game were when Nate stated that he had Marie all figured out, and when Ryan, my home teacher, joined the game, had the card "touchy", and I put down amputations and won. Jeff showed up during Apples to Apples, starving, and started to eat the left over frosting out of the bowl with his fingers. I told him that as soon as Boyd and Hayley showed up we could eat cake and ice cream. And that's what we did when they came. We may have forgotten about birthday candles, so I only had four candles to blow out, which I did, one at a time. Then we started a crazy huge game of Nerts. It was fantastic. Then it was more cake and ice cream and sitting around talking to Boyd and Hayley while the game played on. My favorite gifts of the night? Easily Nate's and Boyd/Hayley's. Nate gave me this key chain that we had seen while in the bookstore together. My roommate's didn't understand it, so I had to explain how we saw it together, and how I mentioned that it would weigh down your keys. Then I noticed that there was a picture on the inside, and I remembered how I mentioned to Nate that it would be awkward and creepy if someone put a picture inside one of them, and would look at it occasionally while everyone else just thought that they were looking at their money. So inside was the following picture:

Basically... it's half-a-stache. Which just made the gift that much better. And the best part about Boyd and Hayley's gift? No, it wasn't the twinner toe socks or the foot cream, but the starfish finger puppet. Yes. The starfish that I fell in love with. Hayley sacrificed her finger puppet for me. I love him. He goes "rawr" all the time in this cute high pitched voice! Ok, so I'm the one that says it, but that's besides the point. I love him.

And that, my friends, finishes off my birthday weekend.

Nate, Jeff and I (Basically it's me trying to convince them to stay).

Nerts Game (Rebecca, Esther, Marie, Becky, Dave and Danielle)

Something to Talk About

So, my mom's not talking to me right now. We may or may not have gotten into an argument a couple days ago about her giving my room away to my older brother. And, now she's not talking to me. She apparently got a job yesterday, after being unemployed for a year, and instead of calling and screaming in happiness, she sent me a text message with minimum details. So I called her, and she didn't answer, so I left a message. A couple hours later, I called again, and she didn't answer, so I left a message. Tonight, I called again, and she didn't answer, so I left another message. That was about two hours ago. She still hasn't called. So I'm pretty sure she's not talking to me.
However, my dad is! We talked for about an hour tonight on several different topics, including men wearing lace bras (Private Practice), Grey's Anatomy, the Office, our family dynamics, my roommate, my friends, my love life (or lack there of), school for both of us, my status as the black sheep of the family, and my burfday.
Today was fun, overall. I went to work for a little while, had the staff meeting, went for free tacos in the Square with Rowena, finished my chem quiz, went to recitation, went to the lab... funny story about the lab. I straightened my hair last night, and I was waiting for Nate (Jeff did the lab Tuesday and had another lunch date), and he walked towards me strangely and said, "isn't your hair usually up?" to which I replied, "no, it's usually down. And it's also usually curly." Then he was like, "Oh. I walked in, and wasn't sure it was you because it was different". I thought that it was funny, because he realized that my hair was different, but didn't know why it was different. Boys.
After the "calming and soothing" lab of the dipping bird, Nate and I went to the Wilk and did who knows what. I know it involved World Fest Jeopardy... and looking at toys or something.
After that was Welsh, in which we ate cookies and read our stories to each other. Mine was about a boy named Jason who liked sharks. In fact, it went something like this: "S'mae. Jason dw i. Dw i'n hoffi morgi. Dw i'n hoffi bwyta. Dw i'n hoffi bwyta morgi. Dw i'n hoffi llaeth. Dw i'n hoffi llaeth gyda morgi. Dw i eisiau bod yn morgi. Morgi dw i!" So in translation: "Hello. I am Jason. I like sharks. I like to eat. I like to eat sharks. I like milk. I like milk with shark. I want to be a shark. I am a shark!" And there were some pictures to go along with it.
After that I walked home. And now here I am... writing in my blog. Waiting for Amanda to go play laser tag. Yup. Fun times.

A Fantasmic Weekend!

It's been awhile since I could say that I just had a terrific weekend... but I just had a terrific weekend!
It started out on Friday in my chem class. 40 minutes into class this guy walks in. And he has facial hair, which is a rare thing to find in Provo. So I'm semi captivated by him as he walks up the stairs to the back of the room, when I lean over to Nate and ask (just to clarify) "Does that guy have a mustache?", to which Nate replied, "No. Just half of one." So apparently this guy is in Nate's recitation group and he shaved off half of his mustache, "for attention". He sits down in our row a few people down, and a few minutes later I lean over to Nate again and exclaim that I want to see it again. "Well, he's in our row, just look over." "But then I can only see half of it, and it's the half that's shaved!". Nate's brilliant response was "Just yell out, 'Hey, half-a-stache!'". Now for whatever reason this just cracked me up. And I couldn't stop laughing. And then Nate started laughing. It totally made my day. And the best part is that it didn't just make my day, but everytime something threatened to ruin my day, I'd just think to myself, "Hey, half-a-stache!" and everything was okay.
Then Friday night Marie and I went to Service Date Night. I guess we were each other's date. We cut out patterns for school bags to send to African children. The high point of the event though, was the Chinese guy that kept talking to me, and not Marie. And when he brought me water, and not Marie, that was the definite kicker.
Saturday I went to Courage Reigns with Jeremey. We cleaned saddles with some guy named Craig. The best part was rubbing the olive oil into the leather with our fingers. And then finding out that this huge saddle that I'd been working on for half an hour had been done already.
Then I went to work, where I just hung out with Danielle for a couple of hours. Then Marie and I went to Rochelle's to make dirt cups with some boys that she knows. After the dirt cups Marie and I went to visit Boyd and HD at the Central Building, and what was supposed to take five minutes to drop off Oreos turned into 6 hours of fun. Including ANIMAL CHARADES! Which was terrific.
Today I walked to church with Marie, Becky, and Rebecca. It was so much fun! We just kept laughing. At one point we went to cross this street, and Marie, who was wearing Big Puffy, says "It's a bit warmer out than I thought it'd be.". And we all lost it.
Then tonight I went to a fireside with Gerald N. Lund. It was amazing. It was all about how to recieve personal revelation. I loved it.

An Odd Day

So today started oddly. I was at work chillaxing in the mailroom when my phone rang. It was my older brother, Jason! Why was he calling? He hasn't called since April, when he left for Iraq. So what was up? He was back in the states! OK, so I'm a bad sister. My brother comes home from Iraq after 7 months and I had no idea. Seriously. Who does that?
Then I had a chem recitation to go to, but Isaac, my awesome TA was out of town so we had a substitute. She wasn't nearly as good as Isaac. And after that I went to the chem lab to meet up with Nate and Jeff. Jeff apparently had a date, so it was just Nate and I. We were doing something with dry ice, in which you had to crush it up, put it in a pipet, clamp it closed and submerge it in water. Unfortunately, after half a dozen tries we both gave up. We just could not get it to boil!
After the lab I followed poor Nate around. I feel bad that he gets stuck with me and that he's just too nice to tell me to go away. But I just love being around him. So we went to a computer lab to do our Mastering Chemistry homework. After that was Welsh class, and we played a bunch of games that the class made up. This poor boy was like, "I made a mutation game!". It wasn't a game. Because it wasn't fun. At all. It might have been fun for him because he got to pretend to be the teacher, and scream out "Dyaun!" several times. But it really wasn't fun for anyone else. For the record, teithio softly mutates to deithio. As in, "Mae rhaid i fi deithio", which means, of course, "I need to travel".
After classes I ran home to eat and shave my legs, for Hayley was coming to pick me up to go see Julie Beck! It was way exciting. We sat in the third pew from the front. It was just Boyd's stake relief society, so it was a small group of people. At one point she waved at Hayley from the stand, as if they had been best friends for years. She didn't have a talk prepared, but she had people ask questions instead. At one point she mentioned how we should be with our faith, and compared it to the pioneers. She asked if the Lord would have to push us all the way to the Missouri River before we willingly went forth. I think it's a great question. Often I feel as if I am the most stubborn person on earth, and that the Lord has to push me the entire way. He needs to keep me in line. I don't do anything unless he pushes me to the edge. I should really change that about myself, and I'd like to, but sometimes it's just so hard. I think I'm ready to just let the Lord take control of my life, and guide me rather than push me.

How Did I Get Here?

Somedays I walk around and all I can think is: "How the heck did I get here?". Some would say that it was a series of choices that I made. Others would call it luck. I think that it was God.
I never meant to end up at BYU. Ever. The only time I ever thought about applying was when I realized that I wouldn't be getting into Wellesley- my top choice. But I didn't apply. And then I got into NYU and it seemed like a dream come true. It was like all that hard work, four straight years of school without a summer off, was finally paying off. I knew once I had that acceptance letter that I couldn't not go. So I sent in my letter of intent, I paid the deposits, and I went to orientation. And I fell in love. I fell in love with the person that I could be. I fell in love with the vast freedom that seemed to stretch out in front of me. I was still stunned, though. I never imagined that I'd get into NYU. I'd applied simply for the rejection letter. I brought this up with my guidance counselor, and she pulled out my application to see what was up. She mentioned that my GPA was good, but not great. My SAT scores were good, but not great. All in all, she said that I must have had either splendid recommendations (which I didn't- I'd read them), or an amazing essay. It was as if God lined up NYU for me. The essay I wrote was a short one- about The Phantom Tollbooth. It had been a book we had read once in the fifth grade, and all summer before I sent out my applications I kept thinking about it. I finally read it again, and had a dream in which I wrote my college essay on it. So I did. And I got into NYU. I had so much faith in going there. And then my loan fell through. And I didn't go. And I spent 4 miserable months at home crying about it. I knew that there was no way that I'd ever be able to afford it. My hope was shattered.
And then I got into a fight with my dear friend Sam. She told me that the church wasn't true. She said that there was no scientific evidence to back up the Book of Mormon. And I was crushed. And angry, and spiteful... so I decided that I'd prove her wrong- and go to BYU. I knew that I was just saying it like I had before. I didn't mean it. I didn't want to go to BYU. But the day after our fight, it just seemed right. So I decided to apply. For reals this time, too. So I went to my old high school counselor and got her to fill out a form. I filled out the application. I paid the fees. I talked to my old seminary teacher. I even went to have an interview with my bishop- all without telling my mom. I don't even remember why, but it was so important to me that she not know until I had the acceptance letter in my hand. I wasn't approving of the person that she was, or her lifestyle. Maybe part of me was afraid that she'd be disappointed in my choice. My bishop recommended that I tell her, and one day, I got the courage to. I knew that I'd have to visit with a member of the stake, and she'd wonder why, so I told her before it got to that point. And I cried. She looked at me and said something to the effect of, "Jessica, I am so happy that you've made this decision. I've been worried for so long about how we weren't going to be able to afford NYU. I'm just glad that you came to this conclusion on your own". It was so contrary to anything that I thought she'd say.
Once I sent in the application, I had no doubt in my mind that I would not be accepted to BYU. It was the end of February, and I had just missed the Fall deadline. Within a week I had my acceptance letter in hand. It was as if all my thoughts about NYU flew away, and all I could think about was how happy I was, and how I'd get to go to BYU. From that point on, I was honestly happy. The depression following me around dissipated, and I looked forward to January, when I'd get to go.
Now, when I look around BYU, with the leaves changing color and falling, blowing in the breeze, when it rains or when it snows, all I can think is how blessed I am to be here, and how my Heavenly Father knows me better than I could ever know myself. It was honestly like he purposely had me dream up the Phantom Tollbooth essay so that I'd get admitted into NYU, the one school He knew that I wouldn't be able to pay for, but that I wouldn't be able to say no to. He did just enough to get me to come around to applying to BYU on my own. He did what He had to do to get me here. I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. There's no doubt about it in my mind, and I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing it to happen.
That first semester I was miserable. I refused to make any friends, and I constantly questioned why I was supposed to be here. It was cold and wet, and I felt alone. But then the winter began to turn to spring, and I remember walking home from classes smiling, thinking about how beautiful it really was. And then when the spring came and all the trees were in bloom, it was perfect and picturesque. And then the summer was so enjoyable, with all my new friends, and how just laying outside basking in the sun was wonderful. And then the fall rolled in, with the crunchy leaves. And now when it snows I think about how beautiful the mountains are. I love it here. And I feel myself changing all the time.
I also wonder frequently, how the heck did I get to be the person that I am now? How did I come out of all my trials and tribulations as the person that I am? How am I still positive? I've just been blessed.