the great outdoor adventure

This is why I love Utah so much


I went up the canyon with Andrew on saturday evening (mind you, it had snowed that morning, but the sky cleared up by the afternoon and it was a beautiful day!) and here are a few things we found...


mountains!

Hercules!


cool rocks with the red sunlight on them!
and a little cave we climbed into!and then the sun set :)

Homecoming

And as October rolls around, we celebrated homecoming!
of course, I've been around all summer so it wasn't exactly a coming home, but it's so much fun to see all the students crowd the campus again; and it's finally cold! hurrah! (yes, I celebrate the cold)
The Ballroom dance company was in the homecoming parade of course, so we all lindy-hopped down the streets of Provo!!
It was really cold, and it even started snowing at one point, but although we were in short sleeves and skirts we weren't bothered: we were dancing!
My favorite part was the little kids :) I wish we had had candy to throw to them though (haha, sounds like I'm talking about feeding the monkeys!)
As exhausting as it was to dance and run, dance and run, it was fun to be in the parade and get to represent BYU. Go cougars!

These are my wonderful roommates at the fantabulous birthday bash they threw for me-- plus Amelia, because she's my sister (therefore my appartment's sister :) Ashley, because we're making her move in with us next semester-- Laurel is leaving for Paris in the winter! :(

These girls are amazing, because even though we're all very different, we get along so well; I think one thing that helps is that we try to keep a good atmosphere in our appartment--I love our nightly devotionals and being able to talk and laugh with them. And I'm so glad to have my Haleigh back!!! Next she goes to Paris, I'm going with her!!!

JE VOUS AIME LES FILLES!

And the first month is over...

September has come and gone (almost) and it has brought a lot of good things!
- I made the BYU ballroom dance company!!! the auditions went exceptionally well, I think because I was so ready by now; I felt really confident and so I just went out there and let it show, and I danced my little heart out... and I made it! I'm now a member of 10 o'clock team, and we will be Lindy-hopping down the street for the homecoming parade!
- I love my classes--all of them. My poly sci teacher is fabulous (although she is a bit "jaded and cynical" according to her own words), my religion teacher too, my broadcast professor is great (and funny), and of course I love my dance classes I'm learning so much!
- Finnish! Minä pidan suomesta!!! I love Finnish! first month of Finnish has come and gone, and I like to think that so far I have been successful; I got a 99% on my first midterm!!! The language I have fallen in love with is full of little particularities like conjugating numbers (yes, weird...) and taking out letters for no good reasons. Oh, and lots of double consonants--yay! here are a few of my favorite words to date:
kukka --> flower
joulopukki --> santa claus!
minkavarinen --> what color...?
sisu --> an untranslatable word meaning something like "the undying will to survive in front of impossible odds"--it's a very finnish concept :)
- Incredible roommates. My roommates have been so kind and so much fun to be with! We do homework together, we go out together, we party together... For my birthday they threw a huge party (the theme was black and white) and then this morning (the day of my actual birthday) they surprised me with french toast and a fish-- well, the bowl is empty but we're gonna get a real fish!!!
- and plenty of new friends :)

So midterms and stress-- bring it on!

Finnish

I've been talking about it for years, but this time it's for real: I am taking Finnish 101 this fall!



I can't wait to start... so far there are 15 people enrolled in the only section offered-- and yes, I was number 15! I'm convinced that someday, somewhere, this beautiful language will come in handy and maybe even save my life! I dream of serving a mission there, and while it's highly improbable, it is not entirely impossible!
The textbook is daunting: not ONE word is in English... and I don't get a word. not. one.
Thank goodness for the pictures
Finnish, here I come! Moi moi! (that means bye bye in finnish :)

PS: for you french speakers, Finnois is the finnish language, Finlandais is a finnish person