21-Day Challenge | Week 3

Boy do I have some explaining to do... Remember when I ran that five miles last Sunday? Well I haven't exercised since then. But you can't blame me, I'm right in the midst of finals week, and you know how grueling that can be. However, I did stick to eating well all last week, which was a plus! However, seeing as I have four exams ahead of me, I have allotted myself four days to splurge, because when I'm stressed and need ice cream, I'm willing to indulge if it means I can calm down and continue studying. Today is the last reading day where we don't have classes, and tomorrow is the first day of finals.

Only one of my finals are actually scheduled, and it's tomorrow at 8 am... Wonderful. The rest of my exams are a free for all. The way BYU organizes final exams is that you have a week to take them. When you're ready, you line up at the testing center anywhere from 7 am to 9 pm to go in and take your test. I love this because this allows me to take all four of my exams by Saturday night so that I can fly home sooner. My flight for Seattle leaves early Sunday morning, and I am so excited to be able to spend a week there before heading off to my internship!

Once finals are over, I can promise you that I will start working out and eating better again! But for now, bring on the ice cream, root beer, better cheddar's, and easy cheese.

Thoughtful Thursday | Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

With finals week fast approaching for those of us college students on the semester schedule, it is easy to stress about every single issue that life throws in our direction. Just last night I nearly had a meltdown because I broke my healthy eating routine and had Wendy's. I beat myself up all day, and then solved the issue by eating a doughnut. I see a vicious cycle forming here... But the point of the matter is, who cares if I have a doughnut every now and again? And, of course, there is a deeper metaphor at work here.

Will your life fall apart if you get a B+ in that class instead of an A-? I promise you, this will not ruin your life. And furthermore, don't let the stresses that school causes on its students effect your everyday life outside of the classroom. Try your best, and that's all you can do.

I've been freaking out because I might get a B- in one of my classes and a B in another. I kept telling myself that these grades were going to bring down my GPA significantly. However, once I took a step back and took into account the other three A's that I would be receiving this semester, I realized that even with these low grades, my GPA would still go up slightly. So if you're freaking out about something that is going to have an extremely minimal effect on your life as a whole, just take a step back and don't sweat the small stuff. 

Snickerdoodle

Finals are over. No more studying, no more cramming, no more worrying. I am not even exaggerating, I stacked all the flashcards I made this year and it was at least two feet tall.

But it still hasn't hit me yet. I feel like it's just a mid-semester break and I'll have to head back to class next week. Even the fact that I'm packing my life into boxes, once again, isn't helping me grasp this reality. And speaking of packing, I must say that the cost of mailing a package is outrageously high. It cost me $13 just to send my Nintendo 64 home, and that box was tiny compared to what I have in store for the post office tomorrow! I really need to cut down - all this packing has made it crazy clear how much unnecessary crap I have. I'll add that one to the to-do list.

I must admit, today was a good day. I made a few batches of snickerdoodles in a delicious effort to get rid of my excess baking supplies and invited all of facebook over to help themselves. But this really did make me realize how much I missed out this year - I was such a hermit and didn't nearly take enough time to get to know the people around me. It took too much effort, I told myself.

I talked to some pretty awesome people for hours today, but come Saturday, I probably won't see them ever again. Or at least for the next couple years, seeing as most of them are going on missions.

Is that seriously all it took? A half hour worth of baking and a facebook post and BAM. Three hours of social interaction, all in the comfort of my own dorm room. The semester may be over, but I am still learning.

7th Inning Stretch

One of the worst feelings to experience in college is when you know the end is in sight, but you still have another hurdle to jump. I have my last final tonight, and a 2-3 page essay to write by tomorrow. I know I can do this, I've accomplished more difficult tasks before. But the fact that I can practically reach out and touch Seattle - that's how close it seems - that's what is exponentially decreasing my motivation to finish out the day.

Don't get me wrong, I've loved this year - college has been one of the best experiences for me. But there comes a point, at least for me, where you just have to revert back to your origins, even just for a little while. As you grow older, the time that you can stand to elapse between these visits will grow longer, but the need to return home will always be present. After four months, I am due for a visit.

I just hope that the time I can stand to elapse will increase by the time August rolls around. I'll be moving to Florida for four and a half months, then I'll have to fly straight back to campus for winter semester in January. Finally, after 9 months, I'll be able to return home in April. But beside the months I'll be away from home, the thing that will impact me the most is that I am going to lose a great group of friends this summer, including one of my best friends. They will be leaving for two years to serve missions for the LDS church. I am going to miss them, but I'm sure it will be a life-changing experience.

Until then, I will just enjoy the summer months I have ahead of me!

Vacation, Part 2

Well, I did it again. I got in a car full of very friendly strangers and took a trip up to Rexburg, Idaho for my vacation this semester, and it was a blast!! I was able to see some of my friends, eat some of the best junk food around, and have a great time. One thing that I regret from my last trip was that I didn't take very many pictures. This time, I took a ton! But it just so happens that they were all taken for Snapchat purposes, so they don't exactly exist anymore...except for this one:

Gangster Gnomes in Walgreen's

According to my countdown, I have 16 days left until the very last day of finals week! And only 6 days of classes - 8 classes total for me (although this is a rough estimate seeing as I tend to make a habit of skipping class to sleep... like today. But in my mind, this is okay as long as I still get a good grade in the class. So don't do this unless you are confident that you won't bomb all your finals!).

Okay, no more fantasizing about going home in three weeks - I have homework to procrastinate on. Ready, break.

Ordinary Birthday

Five final exams completed, and only one to go. I'm almost there!

So for the record, yesterday was by birthday, though it just felt like any other day because I spent the greater  part of my time studying for finals. However, I must admit that getting As on the two finals I had on my birthday was quite the present! Maybe if today was my birthday, I would have done just as good on the exam I just took...

This got me to wondering, did it feel like any other day because I was furiously shoving my nose into my textbooks, or because it's true what they say about birthdays becoming less and less important the older you get? I mean, I know people don't like getting old, so they ignore their birthdays most of the time, but that's when they're, like, 40! I mean, I still have some milestone birthdays ahead of me. 21, when I can drink (which does not mean I will. I much prefer chocolate milk). 35, when I can run for president (though I'm not one for politics). And 40, when I begin counting backwards for every birthday after that (when I get to 20 again, do I start counting back up?).

No, I have concluded that, were it not for finals week, yesterday would have been a wonderfully special day.  And with Christmas and New Years fast approaching, I am extremely excited to soon be test free and surrounded by old friends and family.

By the way, I have added a new item in the "Recipe" page. It is the comfort food that has most assuredly gotten me through this week: Snickerdoodles.

It's a Monday

Sike, it's not Monday, but what the heck is happening! Finals week has already swooped down and is ready to grab me and eat me for dinner! That is a wonderful illustration of how awesome (not) my week is going to be! AND I just realized that I have two essays due Monday, which is now technically tomorrow seeing as it's 2 in the morning. Great.

So, you may or may not have read my previous post about putting off stressing about finals until the week before. Well I seem to have put it off a little longer... until the day before to be exact.

BAHHHHH!!!!!

Ok, done freaking out. Now normally, when a test is coming up and the professor is like, "You have from today to next Thursday to take this exam," I am ALWAYS that person who is in the testing center next Thursday  two hours before the place closes, taking my exam. You gotta fit as much study time in beforehand, am I right? So, if I were to continue with this, I would be taking all of my exams this Friday.

Well, I have changed my mindset. First exam = Psychological Science. When am I taking it? Monday! And I am going to rock it! Do you know why? Because of the video I have included in this post. So watch it.

Man, i'm in a crazy mood. That's what too many Jenna Marbles videos does to you!

Final Countdown

Yesterday I went into a conference with my English Professor, and the first thing she asked me was to rate my general stress level from 1-10, ten being the most stressed. I assumed she was expecting a seven or eight, because she was extremely surprised when I said three.

A very low quality picture of my school's testing center!

Next week is the last week before finals. Any sane person would be at a five, minimum, when rating their stress. So why am I a three?

Let's just say it's the calm before the storm. I know that the next two weeks are going to be the most stressful of all my years of schooling, so I decided to postpone stressing about it. It works, you should try it! Although you have to make sure you stress just enough to get your regular homework assignments turned in on time. Other than that, take some free time for yourself! Watch some TV, go to a party, sleep for 15 hours. Then, the week before finals, take advantage of the extended library hours to study and hope that it all pays off!

No, I have never tried this method before. I'll let you know how it works out.