Such is Life

So I completed all of my training hours on Saturday. Now I don't have to get paid minimum wage! Woohoo! Saturday was a really long and frustrating day. Saturdays are pretty busy at the portrait studio, who woulda thought. I showed up for work at opening, at 8:45 and didn't get to leave until 5:30 that night. No lunch break, no sitting down, and mind you I had to drive to Idaho Falls and back. Ugh. And worst of all, I was getting so frustrated because my boss had assigned another associate to kind of watch me do my sales and to make sure I was doing things right. I wouldn't have minded, but when I was being told "No, you need to do it this way," that's when I got frustrated. While I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was getting in trouble because I didn't do it the same way that she does things. Ugh. For example, I placed a clipboard down on the counter, I was then told that I needed to place that clipboard in another place (which was 6 inches over) because that is where she puts it. Wow.

So its been a long week. I worked from 3 until 7 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday...and then all day Saturday. So by the time I get home I am exhausted, I head right to bed, and then I wake up at 5am to do that day's homework. I really like the structure and the time management skills I am learning, but I think I ran myself down a little. This morning I woke up with a sore throat. Not good. There are four girls in my apartment complex who have swine flu so any kind of sickness is not good right now. In addition...its midterms!

I am excited that it is midterms, but not excited for what midterms entails. In fact, I have a test tomorrow. Crap. Well, just wanted to give you all an update. Hope everyone is doing well.

Oh! I almost forgot...on Thursday Mom and Dad came by Rexburg as they were driving home from Salt Lake. We went out to dinner, it was really good to see them. It worked out perfectly that I didn't have to work on Thursday, and Mom didn't have jury duty the next morning. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad! Love you!

General Conference

My roommate Lauren got four tickets for the Saturday morning session of General Conference. So we drove down to Salt Lake on Friday night, stayed in a hotel, went to conference, and visited some friends in Provo.

On the way to the conference center.


At the conference center, we asked a nice sister missionary to take our picture.

MoTab!


After the morning session we went to lunch at Zupas in Salt Lake where I got to see my roommate Amber from summer semester. So good to see her! I miss her lots.

And then we headed to Provo where we watched the afternoon session of conference. Afterward we went to dinner at a little diner called Sammy's. We got our Polaroid picture taken and put it on the wall!


I got to see my good friend Remington, who is going to BYU while we were in Provo.

And this was soooo not on my diet....but how could I resist? Oreo mint pie milk shake, potato fries and fry sauce as well as sweet potato fries with a sweet sauce. Sooo good!

I Got the Job!

Yesterday I called JCPenney to check on the status of the job. She said she hadn't made a decision yet, but I let her know that I was still interested. Later that evening I got a voicemail and she put the background check through and once that is done she will start scheduling me. Sooo....I guess I have a job! I am pretty excited about this since I love taking photos and working with kids and families. Now lets just cross our fingers that I get time off for the week of Thanksgiving. Ha. By the way, this is just a seasonal job for the months before Christmas, so it will be perfect for the semester.

Harriman Horseback

Thursday night I went on a horseback trail ride with my friend Ashlee. We signed up through the University Activities program and had a blast! We rode through Harriman State Park. I got to see an elk, some swans, and we got to sit and listen to the elk bugle for a while. Such an experience! My horse's name was Paris. And on the way back it started getting dark, it was really pretty to be horseback riding in the twilight.

Wish Me Luck!

Today I applied online for a position at JCPenney Portrait Studio. Only two hours later I received a phone call and tomorrow I have an interview at 4:40! This is basically the first job I have even heard back from! So please please, please say a prayer for me and keep your fingers crossed that I do well and get the job!

Job Hunting...

...is not quite as simple as deer hunting. I would much rather be hunting deer instead of jobs right now. Ugh. I think I have filled out twenty applications, sent my resume to thirty businesses, and have received replies from zero of them. Granted I am being a little impatient since I just applied for a few of them in the last three days, but a lot were submitted weeks ago. Today, I just discovered a job for a Studio Assistant at Jason West Photography. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for me because I REALLY want this job. I would be earning $12 an hour, working about 20 hours a week, and doing what I LOVE! And this would really help me professionally because I have recently decided to minor in Photography (BYU-Idaho just made the minor program). Here is the sample of photographs I included with my resume for the position:
Anyway...classes started yesterday. So far so good. I love this school and I love my major. I am excited for what the semester holds! I will keep you posted on the job situation!

A Summer of Adventure

My summer is almost over. Heading back to Rexburg next Sunday and I start classes on September 10th. I didn't really post a lot during the summer semester so I wanted to share some of my adventures in an overview of the last few months. These are obviously not in chronological order. Here are some of the highlights:

Visiting Yellowstone and watching Old Faithful erupt

Sleeping on a giant haystack.

Exploring an abandoned old farm house

Tanning and swimming with Maria

Lots and lots of country dancing

Fourwheeling in Silver City

Visiting Shoshone Falls with Mom and Dad

Lots of swimming since it was the only way to keep cool with no air conditioning

Floating down the Snake River on these $2 specials and then hitch-hiking back to the car

Visiting California for the Fourth of July

Save a horse...

Ride a cowboy. If you haven't heard, my dream is to marry a cowboy and live on a ranch. And that's why I love the rodeo...lots of cowboys! So in place of institute, some friends and I went to the Caldwell Night Rodeo. Yeeehaaw!





Dracula was totally sitting behind us! Haha!

Fam Damily

It was a lot of fun to have the whole family home for a little reunion. Good times with the fam...


Lots of swimming with the kids...




And of course lots of Wii and other games.

Culinary

Like I said before I have had a desire to cook a lot more lately. I made German pancakes a lot over the last semester and then I wanted to share with my family. So this morning I made some delicious German pancakes.