A Hodgepodge of Mishmash

Only in Rexburg

I held the door for a young man in Wranglers and he said, "Thankee kindly."

A girl in Relief Society mentioned that she is going to Florida, and the class sighed collectively.

We have a refrigerator magnet that reads, "Don't be a Son of Perdition."

Three separate cars failed to yield and almost hit me in one trip through the roundabout.

My roommates watch animated movies almost as often as live-action ones.

Every single guy in my Brit Lit class is married.

If I need help with my Spanish homework in a public place I just raise my voice and ask, "Does anyone here speak Spanish?" and I always get a response.

All 6 of my FHE brothers wore dark suits, white shirts, and pink ties to church last week.

We always notice and appreciate temperatures above 40 degrees.

I could go on, but I'll save it for another time.

Yep, I Want To Go There

I'm trying to get accepted to the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. I compiled a summary of the general awesomeness of the program for your viewing pleasure. All students take these courses:

Old Testament Studies

New Testament Studies of the Gospels
Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Arab and Islamic Civilization
Israeli and Jewish Civilization

Jerusalem Center Field Trips

Arabic 100 or Hebrew 100

Forum: special lectures

The faculty includes Israeli, Palestinian, and American professors.

The Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies

The Gate

"Once a week, all of the students gather in the forum to hear a guest speaker from the local community speak on contemporary issues of interest. "

The Center won many architectural awards.

Dorms

Olive Tree
The Center is built on "pylons that extend to the bedrock of the Mount of Olives" and it is surrounded by gardens that "feature shrubs, flowers, and herbs mentioned in the Bible, an aged olive tree, and olive and grape presses."

The Center overlooks the Old City.

Front Entrance

Library

And the best part:

"At least once a week, students take day-long field trips to important biblical, historical, cultural, or archeological sites. In addition, students take extended field trips to the Sinai and Jordan and spend two to three week at Engev in Galilee."

http://ce.byu.edu/jc/

I want to go.

I Love My Roommates

I have 5 cool roommates this semester. It is the most harmonious apartment I've lived in. The two girls in these photos are the ones I lived with last year, Carly and Stephanie. They're great.

We went shopping for a wedding dress for Carly (middle). We had a really good time. Stephanie (left) and I are going to be her bridesmaids.

Stephanie and I threw a surprise birthday party for Carly. I know. We're the coolest.

Carly riding shotgun in my FINE PIECE OF MACHINERY.

Shopping at WINCO is the cool thing to do. This is my favorite section of the store. Plastic tubes filled with buy-in-bulk goodness are pretty tough to beat.

By the way, Stephanie is from Vermillion, South Dakota (she says "supper" and other awesome stuff) and Carly is from Sacramento, California.

New Year Festivities

We spent Jan 01 in Pike National Forest eating lunch, enjoying the scenery, roasting mallows, and shooting stuff.

Julia bagged a marshmallow.

Dang. That girl is cute.

My nephew loves me and I love him.

Cleopatra after we teased her about her pose.

Cleopatra regally roasting marshmallows.

Gerber baby.

Two frogs on a log.

Lady killer.

I love this boy.

Kaleb has some serious style.

Where are all of the pictures of Dad?

Dale looking majestic.

ETHAN IS CUTE.

It was cold up there. I wore two shirts, a sweatshirt, and my two-layered winter coat because I'm a whimp.

Check out that 'stache!

YIKES

People! It's been a while. I'm back at BYU-I. My teachers are kicking my butt and I'm penniless, but as always I'm very blessed and fantastically happy to be here. My Advanced Research and Literary Interpretation teacher seems to think that we couldn't possibly have anything to do but her homework, but I am learning HEAPS about writing from her. Check this out: We are each editors of an academic journal and we receive floods of essays from our classmates. We have to edit these essays 3 times each. On top of that we are submitting our own essays to other journals, receiving feedback, revising, and resubmitting our writing. We also have reading and other assignment for the class AND we have to prepare for a weekly private meeting with the professor. I don't know how she sleeps at night. I'm whining. Forgive. I really do love school.

Crazy Adv Res teacher
+Spanish 201
+Exceptional Students (SpEd 360)
+Book of Mormon 121
+Book of Mormon 122
+Neoclassic and Romantic Literature

= No time for a job.

The Mutant

Last Saturday Lerik was supposed to be getting his shoes on but instead he was staring thoughtfully at his left hand. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Tawie, I used to have 6 fingers on this hand and now I only have 5. So that's why I don't have very many fingers."

"What happened to your 6th finger?"

"It growed down. See, this white spot is where it used to be. I don't have very many fingers left."

"That's tough, buddy."

Logan and Lerik

It has been three years since the day I started working as a nanny for the Hickman family. Lerik had just turned 1 and Logan had just turned 4. Now Lerik is 4 and Logan is 7. I love them very much, so I'm taking this opportunity to post of few pictures of the two little boys who have taught me a great deal about life and who have blessed the last three years of my own.