Too many odds and ends

Dearest friends. I am a bit behind blogging wise. I’m all moved in, waited in a horribly long line for a parking pass, am bruised and battered from surgery, spent way too much money on groceries and books, and now am working out wifi problems whilst trying to blog. Our kitchen is a mess and there are boxes everywhere. I keep telling myself we’ll figure it all out, but right now it seems like a good time to do nothing instead of try and do everything. I think I’ll take a breather, and then tackle the dinosaur problems I need to get tackling.

Leaving home yesterday was very hard. For a million reasons.

But I get to keep moving forward.

Maybe I’ll have a minute to snap some better pictures of my apartment and put them up for all you lovely folks tomorrow. We’ll see!

Happy Saturday everyone.

Hiatus

I just had surgery or whatever. That plus moving into my new apartment equals a hiatus from the blog for a few days.

I’m doing great, I love you all:)

Happy Thursday everyone!

Moving……

Remind me why I ever unpacked everything when I moved back home for the summer?

Hope the first day of school went well for most of the world (I swear BYU is the only place that doesn’t start for another week. I’m totally fine with it, it’s just weird haha)

I’m off to do more packing and wish I didn’t have to move away.

Happy Monday everyone!

My college week failed

I got to day three of my college week posts, then I worked a double and then I worked again and then went on an awesome date. SOOOOOO I’m sorry. Hopefully ya’ll are ready for college?;) Anyway here’s what’s been up lately.

I had my last day at Cherry Hill. I’m all nostalgic. I’m an emotional, passionate person. Maybe that’s a bad thing. Maybe not. But anyway, I was sad. I walked around the whole place, taking in all the sights and sounds. I’m going to miss the people I work with. I’m going to miss whizzing around on the golf cart early in the mornings. I’m going to miss all the interesting and fun people I would meet. I’m going to miss the smell of fresh pie pockets and the sound of the scanner as I check someone in. So maybe I’m stupid to get all weepy and nostalgic, but I really am going to miss The Hill. But maybe I’ll be around next year:)

This guy took me on an amazing last date before I move away next week. Dinner, the best dessert you can imagine….

These beautiful flowers. I had to play with my new Over app….and yes I’m obsessed. And aren’t these roses just the prettiest color EVER?!?!

A carriage ride with Bill and Charlie around beautiful Salt Lake City…

With this perfect view of the temple.:)

I was trying to be all artsy with this picture. It was a perfect date.
So now I’m packing and hoping I can survive this week of moving in. Good luck to everyone who is starting school tomorrow, especially my cute sisters! 
Happy Sunday everyone.

A Day In The Life

So here’s the day in MY life as a college student, things that I found worked and things that didn’t work for me. This may be good for you, it may not work at all. I just know that I liked hearing EVERYTHING that I could about how to survive day-to-day in school. So here we go:)

7:00–wake up. I didn’t have classes until 10, but I still tried to wake up between 7 and 8 every day so I got things done. Sleeping in on weekends is GREAT. But if I made myself get up at a reasonable time, life was so much better.
8:00–finished getting ready and had breakfast. I always ate something for breakfast. Skipping breakfast is BAD. I usually just had toast and milk or something like that. But usually skipping breakfast is a bad idea!
9:00–I had a rule that from 9 to 5 I was either in school or doing things for school. If I treated school like a work day, it worked out better for me.
12:00–I usually had lunch around this time. I brought my own lunch from my apartment to save money and be healthier. I usually had crackers and string cheese, baby carrots or another veggie, and whatever fruit I had bought that week!
4:00–I usually got home around 4:00. Some people liked to stay on campus to do homework and study, I liked coming home and grabbing a snack, then spending an hour or two studying and doing homework. It’s your personal study habits that will let you know what works for you!
6:00–I started making dinner/eating dinner at this point. Our roommates made dinner for each other a few nights a week, so sometimes I didn’t have to worry. It’s always better to start making dinner early, so you don’t hit 8:00 and then decide to cook some Ramen for the 18th time that week. I loved snacking and making fast meals was necessary sometimes, but when I planned out, shopped for, and prepared a healthy meal, I was happier and felt less guilty about a bowl of ice cream later!
8:00–by this time I was done with school and homework for the day, we would have ward activities or plans with our friends, sometimes I needed to do homework later into the day, but most of the time I got to watch a movie with my friends or go play a game with the guys. It is important to give yourself some free time!
11:00–I tried to get ready to go to bed by 11:00, be asleep by 12:00 every day. Sometimes, this didn’t happen and I would get to bed WAY later. Sometimes, I was able to get to bed earlier. This was just a good goal for me to make sure I got a decent amount of sleep every night.

So this was a normal weekday for me. I’ll be honest, weekends were totally different! But this is a schedule I generally stuck to, and hey, it got me really good grades and a fun time! Maybe it’s something you want to try out:)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

The Top 10 Things You’ll Need In College

So everyone probably has their special items that they felt were crucial for college. I have a few of those as well. So welcome to Maddy’s Top 10 Things You’ll Need In College!

10. Hangers. I never had enough! Make sure you bring plenty so you can fit all your clothes and don’t have to wad them up in piles all over. Nobody wants that.
9. Pens. I used pens up the WAZOO at school. Get plenty!
8. A good coat! You walk outside every single day. Rain and shine and SNOW. So get a coat that will keep you warm during the freezing winters. You won’t regret it!
7. Vegetables. Yes this is happening. Vegetables are a crucial college item. You’ll think you’re all big and tough and don’t need to buy them, but you do. They’ll help you not get sick!
6. A laundry bag or basket. I had both and it made my life SO much easier.

5. Ice cream. This is also happening. It’s important to eat healthy. It’s also important to have treats so that you don’t stress out too much. Find a HEALTHY balance and let yourself go there sometimes!
4. Appliances. Chat with your roommates about who has a toaster/iron/waffle maker, etc. You don’t want to have to buy everything yourself, but you also don’t want to get to school and realize you can’t have waffles!
3. A good computer. I used my computer EVERY SINGLE DAY. I wouldn’t recommend buying a cheap one and hoping you’ll get by. Invest in one you can use for all of college.
2. A solid backpack. Yes there are cute ones that are cheap in every store, but I wouldn’t recommend one of those. You will have lots of books and probably a computer in your backpack every day. Get one that will last!

And the number one thing I would recommend to have at school?

1. A good attitude!!! Cliche? Maybe. Crucial? YES. The more you try to be happy, the better your day will be. The more you tell yourself you can do something, the more likely it will be that you can!

Love ya’ll:)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

What they won’t tell you about the first week of college

So you’re off to college? It’s going to be fun. But here are a few things that they WON’T tell you about the first week. These are things you need to know!

1. You will be homesick. You’ll have this moment (or momentS if you’re me…) of nostalgia about how great home is, how much you miss your bed, and you’ll reminisce about how fast your childhood flew by. It happens. Embrace it and find a way to cope.
2. You will be spending a lot of money. You’ll be stocking up on groceries, realizing you need this kind of container, buying books and dropping TONS of cash. Just accept that it’s better to get it all at the beginning, than get to a day before a paper is due and realize you don’t have a stapler.

3. Know the answers to the following questions: What’s your name, what’s your major, where are you from, how many people are in your family. These questions will be asked SO MANY TIMES the first week. Just know the answer and be ready to answer/ask these questions. A LOT.
4. People are going to make a snap first impression of you. This can be changed throughout the year, but people will spend five seconds talking to you and think they know you. So make your first impression a good one!
5. You and your roommates will play nice the first week. Be polite, but also be real. If you don’t want to share food or plates, nicely let them know. The rules you set towards the beginning will set a precedent for the rest of the semester. So talk about cleaning and sharing while you’re all being polite!
6. College is nothing like high school. The classes are harder, you will have to study differently, your free time is different, and your friends are different. Just accept the fact that things change, people change, and that’s all normal.

7. Try new things! Try foods you didn’t eat at home, read a book you haven’t read before, open yourself to new ideas and situations and embrace it! College only happens once!
8. Take pictures. You’ll want to remember this first week, I promise!
9. Make your goodbyes meaningful. I wrote notes to my family and friends. Things changed over the year and I’m so glad my family and friends had that note from me before I moved out.
10. HAVE FUN!!!! You will be stressed out of your mind, freaking out and sad, but try and have some fun! It’s the beginning of the rest of your life. Enjoy it:)

Remember, the first 16 days of anything are the hardest. You can do it! Good luck to all my dear college freshmen.

Happy Monday everyone!

Welcome to College Week!

I have been MIA on the blog lately. Some stuff has happened, and I am crazy psycho busy, and life just happens sometimes. I am swearing RIGHT NOW that I will be better in the future.

I spoke in church today. So that’s one thing.

I also broke two toes. That’s another thing that has happened.

This week is (drumroll please…..)
COLLEGE WEEK!!!

Look forward to:
What they don’t tell you about the first week of college
The top 10 things you need in college
My day in college, what worked and what didn’t
How to handle roommates
The Do’s and Don’t’s of college

Get excited:)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Favorite Thing

2 years ago, Spencer Hafen made this Facebook status:

“As many likes as this status gets, Randy Low will kiss that many girls.”

118 likes later, he made a Facebook event.

“On August 13, 2011, Randy Low will True Dart 118 girls.”

It was going to be a full moon, which in my high school meant that you went and kissed through the D by the football field and became a “True Dart.”

Randy and I had gone from good friends to best friends that summer. He was mortified about the whole situation. He came to see me at work that night. I asked him if he was going True Darting with our friends that night. His response?

“NO WAY. If I show up there, everyone’s going to attack me.”

I shook my head a little and laughed “Too bad,” I said. “I’m going.”

Randy Low only kissed one girl that night.

That was the night that started the best two years of my life.

Now, two years later, he’s still my best friend. My therapist. My confidant. My crush. My person. Randy has been there for me through everything. Sure, we’ve had ups and downs, every relationship does. Some days I’m pretty sure I hate him, and I’m sure there are days when he’s pretty sure he hates me. But every day I’m very sure that I love him.

Now Randy’s off on his mission, doing amazing things in Japan and I could not be more proud of him. He’s off having the best two years, and today we get a second to remember that we just had our best two years.

Happy 13th Randy Low.

And happy Tuesday everyone:)