Basketball, Steve, and the Suns

When I was in high school, I was obsessed.  It all started in 9th grade, when I made the great decision to fill out a March Madness bracket.  I started watching all of the games, and I was hooked.  I watched basketball all weekend, and I was thrilled, because UCLA, one of the teams I picked at random, made it to the finals.

I caught the basketball bug, I didn't stop watching once the madness was over.  I started watching the NBA.    I became fascinated with the Phoenix Suns, led by Steve Nash.  Even I, with my limited basketball knowledge, could tell that he was dang good at passing.  Here's one of many videos displaying his crazy skill.  (I'd encourage everyone to get on youtube and watch more videos, because I know that it did, and still does, keep me highly entertained.)

I don't remember all of the details, but I'm sure if you read my journal from this time in my life, you could get a pretty good recap.  I got very quickly attached to this fast little team, and I'm sure tears were shed when they lost in the conference finals.  Luckily, there is a great book to commemorate this Suns season.

This book was of great use to me for many research papers, and would be a cathartic thing to read whenever the Steve and the Suns would fall short again of a championship.  Weirdly, basketball was my life in high school.  I watched it instead of hanging out with my friends, I'd stay up until 11:30 watching the Suns game score on Sportsline.  It was the best.

Since moving up to Logan, it seems that my obsession has faded a little.  Some would say it is a good thing (Alexis), but I think it's kind of sad.  I loved it, and loved being up to date on all of the scores, the standings, and the stats.  My time has been filled with other things, like school.  But I want to rediscover that love.

The Suns have gone through a lot of changes, as all teams do, since I first started watching them play.  This is what I remember.

Steve and his coach, Mike D'Antoni.  This time was when were the Suns that were the most fun to watch.  And now...Steve is a Laker.  And the Lakers recently got a new coach, none other than Mike D'Antoni.

I feel like there is something morally wrong with being a Lakers fan....but seriously.  This could be great.  Maybe I'll jump back on my basketball obsession, because I am dang excited about this.

92

The week before an accounting test is filled with accounting study groups, reading over notes, working out problems, carrying a giant textbook around campus, and stressing.

Really...the textbook is HUGE.  

When the day of the test arrives, I've usually reached the point where I feel I cannot be any more prepared.  Yes, I might have all day to continue studying, as the tests are taken at 4:30 p.m. (which is awful, by the way), but I feel like if I don't know it by the day of the test, I'm probably not going to know it by the test.

So come last Thursday, I was done studying for my accounting test.  And I was scared.  The test covered pensions, leases, errors, and changes in accounting principal.  There were so many slight details that change they way a problem is worked and how things are classified.  I was so overwhelmed, and thought for sure all of these things would catch me on the test.

I sped through the test.  I'm not one to carefully go back over the test and look for mistakes, or try to figure out how to do problems.  If I don't know how to do it the first time, my assumption is I'm probably not going to have an accounting epiphany halfway through the test.  I was the first one finished (yes!), and left not sure what to think of the test.  I was thinking I'd be lucky and happy to get an 80.

Winning.  At finishing first, not accounting. 

So, when I got my test score, I was stunned.  A 92??  The first thought that crossed my mind was...maybe he typed in the wrong score.  My next thought was...geez, he must have had to curve this test pretty hard.  There was no way I did that well on the test.  I mean, I know I didn't fail it, but I didn't think I got in the 90s...

Minus the +, add the -.  But hey, it's an A.

I was  talking to my friend Jonny, and he did even better than that.  We were both so shocked that we still haven't really started to rejoice in how great we did.

Now...I'm sitting in accounting class writing this blog post with my test in front of me.  Turns out...

We are just that good at accounting.

#accountinglounge

Awkward...

So...Rachel and I like to go on runs, right?  And they're pretty much the best thing ever, like, ever.

Here's how they go.

We run to the temple and chat.  These conversations cover everything.  That's like the base reason why our runs are fabulous.  What's more stress relieving than running and venting?  Probably nothing.

Then, we sit on the grass by the temple, and do an ab workout.  This tends to be a great location to run into people.  In the many times we have been there, I can recall many occasions where we have encountered people we know.

Then we run home.  Sometimes, we sit on a bench and finish talking, because we really have that much to talk about.  And that's where it gets awkward...

Since the only place there are public benches are bus stops, we were sitting there.  Then the bus came, we had to tell the bus driver we didn't want to get on the bus.  He informed us that we were sitting at a bus stop.  He was real annoyed... We left the scene.

Just another running adventure with Summer and Rachel!

Spinach Parmesan Quinoa

Sundays have become my cooking days.  The rest of the week I live off quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, and other pasta.  But on Sundays, due to having lovely 1:30 church, there is plenty of time to enjoy my favorite hobby of cooking!

I found this recipe via foodgawker, which is basically pinterest dedicated to FOOD.  It is glorious.  And so was this delicious quinoa.  

Exes

So, I used to live with these two girls.  We shared a pantry, so we were obviously very close.  But then we moved, and other than seeing this fabulous girl be a Puerto Rican in West Side Story, the three of us haven't done anything with each other since we were all roomies at Garden Court.  Which is a real misfortune, because these two are some of the funniest, most awesome women around.  

Until this happened tonight.  I love these girls, it was so fun living with them last year, and even though we're all pretty different, somehow we all like sushi.  Weird, right?

We got all of this fantastic sushi for $6 each!  It was beautiful, and oh so delicious.

Funny story about this picture...We wanted one picture with all of us, because we love each other so much, so we asked this man to take one for us.  He refused!  So this is what we ended up with.  Thanks sir...

Anyways, I'm grateful for these girls.  They were some dang awesome roommates, and they still are some dang awesome friends.  

Still Fun

I haven't been super good about blogging lately, obviously, because I know that no one cares about my Kinder Morgan LBO project, and that's about the extent of what I've posted lately.  At the beginning of the semester, I was just so excited to be back up at school, hanging out with all of my friends, doing fun roommate activities, and just enjoying being back up at USU.

I'm still doing all of that great stuff (as well as lots of studying and homework, because that has definitely picked up over the semester), but I'm just not appreciating it or recognizing it as much.  Also...I'm just not taking as many pictures, and pictures obviously make everything seem so much cooler.  

Anyways, we have been up to some fun, both photographically documented and not.  Here are some highlights of the weekend.

>Paying tribute to No-Shave-November...we attended the Lumberjack Party - there were mustaches, flapjacks, and a whole lot of plaid.  

>Game Night.  Always a pleasure.

>Watched Lexi come up with creative ways to save her art project.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog...so probably don't tell her these pictures are on the internet.  (For reals though, this was a great piece of artwork.  I'm already looking forward to next fall so she can try it again.)

>We did manage to spend a solid three hours at the library working on homework and studying.  It was quite productive.  

>But before we made it up to the library...we took our frequent trip down to Gossners.  This might be a slight exaggeration, but probably a quarter of the amount I spend on groceries...I spend on cheese.  Alexis and I might have a problem.  (One might determine this when we go through one of these in less than a week...but whatever, cheese makes everything better.)

>Aggie Basketball.  It was a pretty good game.  We had a nice time.  

>Alexis's friend let us come to his apartment where they are harboring a yorkie-poo (a poodle yorkie!) puppy.  Oh. My. Gosh.  It was so cute, and I was in heaven.  I wish I had a picture of this one.  

>On Sunday, Alexis and I made cauliflower pancakes.  Not to be confused with pancakes you with syrup... While Lex was disappointed with these, I was thrilled.  They are so dang good!  A current favorite for sure.  

Weekends are good stuff.  This one was pretty relaxed, which is nice.  It was good to hang out with friends, eat some good food (of course!), and just enjoy life.  

We Love the Library

Kinder Morgan LBO

Since I know the three people who read my blog are just dying to see this...here ya go!

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Mac and Cheese at Midnight

I knew today was going to be a long day.  I would work my regular Monday shift, 8-3.  I would forfeit my weekly Monday run, which has happened a total of twice, and head up to campus to finish putting together my part of a group project so I would be ready for the group meeting tonight.  In between, I would go to my review for cost, so I don't fail my test tomorrow. 

I knew this project was kind of a nightmare.  The information was really hard to find.  But aside from that, it was a group project, which usually means trouble.  We all met up around 7:00, and compiled our parts.  The project had to be changed from the crappy Google doc to actual PowerPoint, then we had to tackle the task of doing our voice recordings.  It's a ten minute presentation, so naturally, we didn't leave the library until 11:30.  

I'll post the video later for your viewing pleasure.  Look forward to learning more about the LBO of Kinder Morgan.  

Anyways, it was a lot of work, and by the time we left the library, I was starving.  So I made some macaroni and cheese and ate it.  At midnight.  And now I'm feeling kind of sick.  

It's time for bed.  

Slump

Ugh.

There comes a point in the semester where it just become really hard to find motivation to do anything.  Even little assignments seem like the biggest drag to do.  It's really inconvenient when this happens during a busy time of the semester.  Maybe it just seems like an even busier time, because I literally don't want to do any of the work I have, which makes every little thing seem like the hardest task ever.  And if homework is hard to do, don't even get me started on studying.

I just want to lie on my bed and sleep.

I've got to find me some motivation real soon.

The Cleanest

Our apartment has stayed pretty dang clean this year, which is impressive because usually apartments end up looking like this.

Anyways, our apartment is a bit cleaner this year.  But that's besides the point of this post.  Whether your apartment is generally pretty clean, or generally not, one thing is for sure.

Things are the cleanest when someone has a test coming up!

I have a test tomorrow, so naturally, I'm reorganizing my whole room, finding places for all of my winter clothing, doing my laundry, and pretty much doing everything productive besides studying.  Plus, you really can't get any studying done if your room isn't clean.  

Sometimes school is DUMB

I am really glad that I get to go to school.  I'm grateful I'm getting an education.  But sometimes, school really frustrates me.  I don't mind doing a lot of accounting homework, it can be hard, and it usually takes hours.  While working on an assignment for hours can be a little frustrating, I find that homework applicable.  I know that it is important for me to do so I can learn, not only to pass the test, but also for my future career.

The real frustration lies somewhere else.  Let's start with generals.  I am an accounting and finance major.  I do not like science.  I am glad other people like science, because I know it is important.  But I don't want to spend my time writing papers about science.  I believe that generals should be easy, and not time consuming at all.  But I guess you just have to deal with them.

And my number one frustration of the day.  Calculators.  Due to cheating capabilities, graphing calculators are not allowed for use on some tests.  Yeah, some people decide to program their calculators instead of studying for tests, but I hate that I cannot use my calculator on these tests!

I hate the stupid calculators that don't have a display screen.  Yeah, they're fine for adding a number or two, but when your finance teacher asks you to do THIS...

...try to not make a mistake or two that will destroy your answer.

I hate this.  There is so much room for error, and it's not realistic.  In the real world, I will never do this will a paper and pencil.  We have Excel for a reason.  I hate that on my test this week, I will miss the questions with tons of calculator work.  Not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because I can't type numbers into a calculator with 100% accuracy.

And that's why school is dumb.  Maybe instead of Ag science class, they should make you take a calculator class.

We do the Howl Right.

At Edgehill 10, on the day of the infamous Utah State Howl, we did not spend the day prepping for event of the year.  Instead, we spent the majority of the day in the kitchen.  Here's what was made.

Heidi and Lex made use of Lexi's fancy popcorn maker.

Rachel was festive and made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. 

Heidi continued in the Halloween spirit and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Heidi utilized Pinterest to make chicken enchilada puffs

I made my mom's delicious Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder for soup party. 

And just because there wasn't enough food made, I cooked up a batch of cinnamon rolls.  

Forget wild parties, the best way to celebrate the holidays is simply by cooking, eating, and being with friends.  

Calgary Travel Guide

Obviously my travel guide is going to talk about where to eat!

I love using Urban Spoon, that's how we found Holy Smoke, a delicious and inexpensive BBQ place.  It was so yummy!

Another Canada favorite is Tim Horton's, nicknamed Timmy Ho's.  I don't have any pictures of this delightful place, but the doughnuts were cheap and delicious, and the hot chocolate was piping hot!

Glen insisted that we try donairs, which kind of look like a huge taco.  We managed to find the sketchiest place ever to buy them...I don't even have photographic evidence because I didn't want to take my camera out of my bag.  Once we were away from all of the pawn shops and homeless people, we took a picture.

If you ask someone where you have to eat while you're in Calgary, most people will say Peter's Drive-In.  I was so stuffed full of everything else by the time we made it to Peter's that I just ordered a pina colada shake, which was fabulous.

Eating is pretty much the best part about going new places.

Actually, let's be honest, eating is one of the best parts of life.

Why Canada?

I'm pretty sure this trip happened for a few reasons. 

1.  We had a six day weekend and we love road tripping!

On one of our long drives.

2.  We like to leave the country.

We made it to Canada!

3.  There was a temple open house.

Calgary temple.

 4.  And another temple on the way.

Cardston temple.

Roadtrip!

Some people do not like road trips, but I am not one of them.  I love most road trips, so I was pretty excited for this weekend, because for fall break, we decided to drive up to Canada.

Ashley is really nice, and she offered to drive.  We were well into our road trip, and in the middle of nowhere Montana when the first big event of the trip occurred.  There was something black in the middle of the road, and we managed to run right over it.  We then had to pull over, and discovered two flat tires.

This is what Ashley ran over.  Oops.

We still managed to have a good time!

Adam came and helped us!

Luckily there was a Les Schwabb in Dillion, Montana.  They sent Adam out to get us some new tires.  We didn't make it to Helena in time to watch the Vampire Diaries, but we did manage to make it safely!

Partners in Crime

My roommate Heidi is awesome.  Lately she's been getting into a real festive mood.  Our window has a neat sign on it, there's cobwebs in the corners, and a nice little Halloween coloring book to add even more Halloween cheer to the apartment.

It's new grammar.  Embrace it.  

Yup, we live in a regular haunted house!

Yup, it's scare in here!

We decided our porch was a little lacking.  We had two cute little pumpkins (okay, one cute little pumpkin that I carved, and one giant one that Heidi has yet to carve), but we needed more.  We'd seen some nice hay bales somewhere, so we just went picked one up.  There also found a little bench that we thought would make a nice addition.

Lucky thing we have friends with vehicles other than Civics!
(Even though obviously Civics are the best)

Our porch is most ready for Halloween.

And it's officially hot chocolate season.  

  

The Crepery

There are so many things that are great about living in Logan, but I'm pretty sure the best thing about Logan is the Crepery.

Ever since I moved up to Logan, I have been obsessed with this place.  I used to be able to justify going frequently, because I wanted to make sure it stayed in businesses.  Then, it got really busy and it would take hours to get your crepe, so that justification went right out the window.  

Kels and I freshman year!  Lovin the Crepery:)

Last year, I went like once a week, and it kind of became a problem...so I had to make rules like I had to earn "crepe dollars" by going to bed on time.  It worked pretty well because I had to get my crepes...obviously.  

Crepes after the temple...does it get any better?

Crepes after a great adventure with Sam!

Happiest!

This summer they moved to a new location, and I was so excited following their updates while I was in Uganda, I just couldn't wait to get back and eat a crepe!  So, I'm like way appalled that I've been up in Logan for about two months now, and I haven't even visited the Crepery once.  

Tonight, Ashley and I finally fixed that problem!  The new location is awesome, there are some sweet chairs!  And the crepes were better than ever.  Let's just say the crepe dollar rule is back in action, because if I don't have at least that restriction, I'm going there every night.  

Looking real ratty, but so great to be back!  And in the most awesome chair!