Lots of SUN and FUN

My past week has been pretty exciting. It all started out with wakeboarding with our home teachers and their roommates. That was a blast. I had never attempted to wakeboard before so it was pretty hard. I found out about muscles that I didn't even know existed the next morning! Here is a little video of my first attempt:

OK, just kidding. that is TOTALLY not me. It is the amazing Stew. If only I could be like him. I wish I could do a back flip- let alone get up for more than 10 seconds. Here is the video that is really me. Notice the screaming. Those are definitely my lungs. I was so excited to actually be up. Also notice the wobbly legs/overall beginner appearance. Priceless!

We had a super fun time with some great people. Lindsay and I both agreed that it was one of our favorite Fridays of the year. 

The next day we rafted down the Provo River with more fun people from our ward. Pictures will have to come later. Lindsay bought a disposable water camera that has not been used up yet. SO- I guess that means that we will just have to have more water adventures and use up the rest of the film. 

On Monday I drove down to Mesa to spend a few weeks with the family. My brother and niece are flying in tomorrow for the week. I haven't seen them for 2 years, so it should be really great.  Tuesday, I floated the Salt River with my friends Alison and Rachel. It was great to just lay on a tube and talk to my friends that I haven't seen in forever and get a tan. Tan Update: I am getting closer to my goal every day. I have gotten sun every day since I got here except for yesterday. My mom put me to work in the house painting ad scraping popcorn off the ceiling. This morning I played tennis and got a little pink and I am headed out to the pool right now. I am going to have a real tan for the first time in over 5 years!!!!! I am stoked. 

This should be a great couple of weeks in AZ full of family, swimming, friends, tennis and other great things. It really is nice to have a little break!

Going Crazy

This past week I have had more energy than usual. I have been extreeeeeeemely antsy and basically just bouncing off the walls. Just ask my roommates- I think I have been driving them crazy. I am not sure what it is. But, needless to say, all this extra energy has gotten me super excited for the long weekend and my trip to Mesa next week.
We have some tentative plans for the fourth but I don't want to spoil the surprise of my next blog post so I will just keep all 3 of my readers waiting in suspense!! MY week has been filled with the Michael Jackson Pandora station. I think that someone in our house has that station playing at all times of the day.
I finished my Harvard online statistics and accounting classes in 2 days (Monday and Tuesday). I am officially accepted to the MBA program now. Completing those courses by yesterday was one requirement that everybody had to complete to be an official Cougar MBA. I can now say that I went to Harvard!!! :)
Lindsay and I signed up for the Freedom Festival 5K run on Saturday. Here is my question(s) about the people who organize these things. #1- Was the person who designed this horrifically ugly shirts a 75 year old man who likes to run down the street with his shirt off and his leathery skin/silver chest hair flapping in the wind? Because that is the only person I can see wearing this shirt that is 3 sizes too big for me. #2- Why on earth would anyone plan a race to START at 7:00 AM on a holiday? Mornings and I haven't been on good terms for about 20 years. #3- Who makes you pay like $30 to register for a race and then gives you your race packet in a used grocery store bag and writes on the shoe timer that you have to return it at the end of the race or else they will asses a fine? They didn't even give us any free stuff in the used grocery sack.I was thoroughly disappointed. Oh well, life goes on without my free water bottle. Here is a picture of Lindsay and I posing in our hideous shirts that I stole from her blog.

Good times will be had by all this weekend.

What's Been Going On???

OK- So I know that an update is WAAAAAAY overdue (Thanks for the reminder,Loo). So, here it is.

#1- I found out yesterday that I got a scholarship from the Marriott School for my MBA. I am SUPER excited. Supposedly they only gave out 20 scholarships to incoming students so I feel very lucky. The school doesn't have a large sum of funds to give out this year for scholarships because their donations haven't been as large as they have in the past, AND the director said that the incoming class is one of the most competitive that they have had in past years so all of this just contributes to my elation over receiving a scholarship. YAY!!!

#2- My roomie Amanda is engaged. I am SO excited for her. Michael (her fiance) is great and they are perfect for each other. congrats Amanda!!!

#3- My roommates and I have been doing some dancing in the living room lately. Here are some pictures of Lindsay and Michelle dancing. They are going to love these!!



#4- We redid our kitchen. The walls were painted this yucky gray color, and the table and chairs were really gross, so we painted the walls and refinished the table and chairs. This project consumed my life last weekend, but it was very satisfying to finish it and have it actually look nice. Now we just need to finish the hallway and I need to get some accessory decorations for the kitchen and we will be good to go! Here are some before and afters:





#5- Michelle and I have decided to play more tennis and I have found some new random tennis buddies. I am excited to get back into playing again. It is frustrating to play and miss shots that you know you can get. BUT, hopefully as I keep practicing I will get it all back. I am so excited to start playing more and get back to the place that I used to be. Oh, I LOVE tennis!

#6- To thank everyone who helped me with the kitchen project, we had a dinner party last night. It was really fun. We had appetizers and little frozen drinks in the living room to start things out. Then, we had chile rellenos, beans and rice for the main course. Finally, we had fried ice cream for dessert. I have never made homemade fried ice cream but it turned out pretty well (except for the smoke that filled the kitchen when the oil got too hot). I had a good time and I hope everybody else who came did as well.

#7- My roommates and I have decided that we want to collect mix tapes from people this summer. SO- in an effort to get our first mix tape, we kidnapped out neighbor's prized fern palm plant thingy and sent him a ransom note naming our demands. We thought it was pretty funny.

The whole fiasco ended, however, when we got sick of having "Fergie" the fern at our house so we just returned her to Pat. We have yet to receive our mix tape. I guess we will have to find other means of getting our mix tapes from other people. Any ideas??????


#8- We planted flowers in pots on our porch a while ago. They are growing!!!! Every morning and afternoon when I come in/out from our house, I have to stop and inspect our little flowers. they are so CUTE!!! Here is a pic:



I think that is about it. I am going to AZ in a week and a half for about 2 weeks. I would love to see anyone that will be around!

Good News!!!

(Note- this is a long post with lots of rambling- so no offense taken if you choose to skip it)

This news might be a little bit unexpected, but I just found out that I was accepted to the MBA program at BYU for Fall '09 admission!!!!!  It is still kind of unexpected to me.  I decided to apply about a month ago.  I was talking to Alex, one of my co-workers, about possibly applying to Thunderbird School of Global Management next year when I would have time to study for the GMAT and take extra care filling out applications.  He suggested that I apply to BYU's program this year.  He was certain that I would get in- I, on the other hand, was not so certain.  It took me a while of weighing the pros and cons and I told him that I would think about it.  I took a practice GMAT and the rest is, well..........history.  

That was a Thursday.  I spent the weekend writing essays and filling out my application.  I flew to California the next Wednesday to babysit.  I studied for the GMAT for about 3 hours each day- 1 hr while the baby napped in the afternoon and 2 hrs after I got the kids to bed in the evening.  I studied as much as I possibly could for the week and a half that I was there.  I got back late Saturday night and continued to study until my test appointment on Monday.  I made myself SICK with worry (literally!! Luckily I had Linds to rub my back while I revisited everything I had eaten that day).  Then I went and took it on Monday afternoon.  It was SO HARD!! My brain was absolutely exhausted by the end of it.  After the test, I didn't want to look at the results.  But to my absolute Amazement, I got a 710!!! 92nd percentile!!!  I couldn't believe it!  Well, I turned my scores into the Marriott School, waited to hear about an interview, interviewed, and found out today.  The whole process from deciding to apply to being admitted has been a whopping 4 weeks.

So, I am headed back to school in the fall.  I am SO EXCITED to be going back to school and especially to be getting an MBA.  I just can't help but feel blessed.  I know that it wouldn't have happened without the Lord's help and guidance.  I am just super grateful to have been brought to this point.  

YAY for Grad School!!!!

This is what I'll look like again in 2 years- except I'll no longer be a Russian bachelor, I'll be a Business Master!

I was right!

See- my predictions are always right!!!  Hopefully my prediction for next week will be right, too.  This guy should win:

Next week will be fabulous- American Idol finale and SYTYCD Premier!  ALSO- Lindsay is beyond excited about "Glee".  I think that we are starting to watch too much TV.  At Least AI is almost over!

Yes, I am addicted

So my roommates and I are kind of addicted to American Idol. I am convinced that these two will be in the finals. One of us (who will remain nameless) is in LOVE with Adam Lambert ( we love to tease her about that) and we all are glued to the TV every Tuesday and Wednesday night. I just thought that I should let everyone know how many times I voted for Kris tonight- more than 100!!!! I think that he is amazing! WOW!!! his "heartless" song tonight blew my socks off!(I am buying it on Itunes right when it comes out) Although I think that Adam is super talented, I am getting kind of sick of his shrilly voice. He has got talent, don't get me wrong, but I much prefer Kris' style to Adam's. My vote is definitely for Kris. For those that missed tonight, check this out- AMAZING!!!

This piece should win an award.......

Last night after we went out to Bombay House ( YUM!!) for Carly's birthday, Rachel and Carly enlightened us by showing us this segment from a newscast in Alabama.  I wish that I had seen this closer to St. Patrick's Day.  I don't think that any introductions are necessary- Just enjoy!!

(The amateur sketch and the flute are my personal favorites!!!!)

ALSO- I won't be putting anything up here for a few weeks (just in case anyone has gotten used to me posting more than once a month in the past few weeks). I am going to California and won't be back until the beginning of May.