I may not look like a runner but running away is what I do best.

True story. I decided I'm tired and want a break from craziness, exhaustion and drama...so I'm leaving for L.A. Thursday morning. Nothing clears your head like a road trip in a 15 passenger BYU van through the Nevada wasteland. I can say that because I lived in Nevada and while I thought Tonopah and the surrounding area was lovely, Vegas is like a flippin' frying pan. I am incredibly excited though. Two really exciting things have happened.
Miraculous story numero 1:
I got a call from Erica right before my class started telling me she was going on Finlayson's semesterly trip to L.A. and wanted me to come with her but I had to decide...right then. So I decided to leave it in the hands of God and go up to Dr. Finlayson's office...and if she was there go, and if she wasn't...cry a little and stay in Provo. Well she wasn't. :( So after resolving to stay I literally ran into her on may way out of the Kimball Tower. It was fantastic and pretty miraculous. Long story short, I'm now going to L.A. and am exceedingly excited for the incoming break.
Miraculous story numero 2:
Dr. Finlayson informs me that she still would love for me to go to Syria with her and I think to myself...hmmmm...why not? I've got no strings to hold me down...(and then I forget the rest of the words to the song) So it is something that I am seriously debating right now. And by serious, I mean SERIOUSLY SERIOUS. I'm doing my best trying to figure out this crazy life of mine right now.
So as a summary: I am going to L.A. to see the Pompeii exhibit and I may run away to Syria this summer...or Spain, there is this underwater archaeology field school I am dying to go to...aaaah focus Aliswan!!!! One adventure at a time.
So there are the miracles for this week. Hopefully miracle number 3 will be that I will pass my scuba final tonight and live to dive another day. We'll see...

10 things that make today wonderful!

So today has been a tad bit early but pretty dang good for me...surprisingly. Here is a silly list of 10 things why today is bound to be marvelous.
1. I barely slept last night...Sounds stinky right but in reality even though I had some weird stress dreams my insomnia made it that much easier for me to get out of bed this morning and write that paper I procrastinated. And because I did it so early I had it done hours before I planned to even start writing it.
2. I forgot to take off my makeup last night...usually that means my eyes are killing me and I have smears all over my face and a new zit, but guess what? No sleep, no smear! :) Also I woke up and my hair looked like it was still perfectly waved. All I had to do was put on clothes and brush my teeth. It was wonderful.
3. I went to get dressed this morning and I actually had clean clothes in my closet. Sometimes before you wake up you forget you did laundry all weekend and it is like a nice smelling surprise.
4. There was a bag of Frosted Flakes on the counter this morning...gosh I LOVE Frosted Flakes.
5. When I got my laptop out to type up my paper I was so happy. My computer got a virus and my wonderful uncle reformatted it for me. Then I bought a computer sticker cover and now it is like I have a new computer. New things (even if they just feel new) are fantastic. I love the cover, everytime I see it it makes me happy. This is the artwork on it by Nanami Cowdroy:

6. The weather today is absolutely lovely. Walking up to campus was wonderful.
7. I was able to download all of my assignments from Blackboard. For those of you who know how naughty Blackboard has been lately, you would understand.
8. I am wearing my comfortable shoes...:)
9. I'm getting a new cell phone this week or next which is marvelous.
10. My all time favorite. I love being prepared and making lists etc. but I have never before been so obsessed with a planner. I decided to try out a Moleskin planner this year because so many people recommended it to me. I love, love, love it. I use it constantly and take it everywhere with me. I'll likely never use another planner again. I'm in love, what can I say? :)
So there you go. Happy Monday!!! (who would have thought that could happen?)

New Moon....???

Ok, I can't believe that I am doing this but I cannot resist. First let me give a precursor, I HATED New Moon, I despised it, it stunk hard core. But I have to admit being the video preview and movie spoiler connoisseur that I am I couldn't deny the awesomeness of this preview. We'll see how I like the movie but if the preview is any indication of Chris Weitz's ability to fix a painful book, there is a good chance I might enjoy it. We'll see. ;)

How can I be behind when I've just begun?

So school is in full swing now. I love how on some of my classes the day you get the syllabus you find that you are already at least 50 pages behind. Little did you know that you were supposed to read the material before you even got the book. Apparently this lovely professor just likes to keep us on our toes.
It's not the only thing I'm behind on though. I keep needing to update my little brother's mission blog but literally do not have enough hours in the day to catch up. Being in the middle of nowhere for 3 months tends to get you backed up on things. I also should probably unpack...and do laundry. Yes, definitely need to do laundry first.
One fantastic thing that I'm doing right now is working out with my good friend Erica. It is absolutely fantastic. She is an awesome runner and I'm pretty decent at swimming so we are training each other. We workout almost every morning or evening and I am feeling soooo good. Even though trying to get out of bed to make it to the pool by 6am is a total killer, after we finish our workout I feel great. It's really made a difference in my days.
Well the download I have been waiting for is finally loaded so I better take off. Adios!

Swimming, swimming, in a swimming pool....

So I had my first scuba diving class in the pool last night. It was absolutely fantastic! My diving buddy is super good too. We race everywhere. Sometimes I win, sometimes he wins and sometimes instead of using my regulator, I put my snorkle in my mouth and try to breathe underwater. So this experience of accidentally breathing underwater has kind of taught me one little morbid thing. If you just relax and breathe, drowning actually isn't as bad. Really, it was almost to easy. Although I wouldn't recommend it because this morning I had a massive headache, a little off balance and wanted to hurl everywhere. Yep, so overall, wouldn't recommend it.

Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out...

So I'm taking the GRE tomorrow morning. Which according to the offical GRE website stands for:
The Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®) General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and critical thinking and analytical writing skills. The GRE® Subject Tests gauge undergraduate achievement in 8 specific fields of study.
That is 8 specific fields of study folks...8. Should that sound intimidating because it is, it really is. I've kind of gotten to the point where it I am so saturated with information that I can't think. I've been studying for this test all summer and I have come to the conclusion that the sponge of my mind is so saturated that if I try to study anymore then vital equations, definitions and proofs will slowly seep from my mind and therefore be missing when I go to take my test.
It reminds me of a race that I swam when I was about 11 years old. I was always trying to 'pump' myself up but for this race (500 freestyle) I could not wake up. My mind was completely blank and I sat behind the blocks like a zombie, yawning and generally looking like I wouldn't make it to the blocks not to mention finish the race. My coach was worried and trying to wake me up but I just could not focus or even think. Well, long story short, it was one of the best races I ever swam. Don't know why, but it was. So I am really hoping and praying that this will also be the case. That by some miracle everything is there, and when I need it, it will come. That is what I'm praying my little heart out for. Really, I'm terrified but I have faith that I have prepared as well as I was capable and that what should happen, will happen. I'm just hoping that 'what should happen' is that I should be able to pass the dreaded test, go to grad school and fulfill my life dreams. That would be swell. We'll see.