Episode 8: In Which Jessica Makes Mochi and Contracts a Deadly Virus

Ok, let's start of with the important stuff...
I WENT INTO THE MTC 2 YEARS AGO TODAY!

Anyhow, yes...ignoring the obvious over exposure in this picture, you can clearly see the the mochi which I actually didn't make. My friend Shelia made it, but she taught me how and its so super easy that I can't believe I didn't make it before! Guess what I'M making tomorrow...and I'm gonna make my roommates try it too. hahahahaha. ahem. *cough*

Anyhow, all I ever needed was Mochiko brand flour, coconut milk (apparently regular milk, or even water can be used but who wants that when you can have COCONUT milk!?!) and something to stick in the middle of the mochi. (I used Anko, or red bean paste...of COURSE) Then you mix it together and microwave it til it starts to turn a little yellow. You take it out of the microwave and spoon out just a little bit at a time onto plastic wrap or a plastic bag as shown below.

Once you have it in the bag, flatten it out and put a spoonful of anko (or whatever you're filling it with) in the middle. Wrap it all up, drop it into a bowl and coat it with mochiko flour and you're done!

Here, I'll write it in recipe like form for you

1 half box Mochiko brand flour
1 can coconut milk (or about 13 oz liquid)
Anko (or whatever you wanna put in the middle)
plastic bag or saran wrap for forming the mochi


-Mix liquid and mochiko flour until fully incorporated.
-Pour mixture into separate container about half an inch thick. (it just microwaves faster this way)
-Microwave on High for about 1.5 minutes. Mixture should yellow slightly, that's how you know it's done
-Remove from microwave and spoon small amount (a teaspoon or two) onto plastic wrap
-Using the plastic wrap, flatten and thin the mochi. Try not to make it TOO thin or the filling will pop through but it can be as thick or as thin as you want. Basically, you just want it big enough that it will completely enclose the filling
-Place filling in center of mochi and completely enclose it. How much you put in is entirely dependent on preference.
-Drop mochi into a bowl of Mochiko flour and shake to coat. This keeps it from sticking to your fingers.

YAY! MOCHI!!! umm...yeah, it might not look so pretty at first cuz well...you're probably dumb like me. Notice the stupid looking gimpy one? Yeah that was totally mine =P looking at it now, I don't' know why I am even allowing you to see it. Well anyhow, it tasted delicious so NYAH!

Yeah guess what my roommates are gonna be trying soon! Hope they like it! Shelia's roommates all did, but one of them served her mission in Taiwan too...

Oh well. Oh, I also drank winter melon tea...which I thought would taste like Mugicha (Barley Tea aka Burnt Water...what? that's what it tastes like!!) but it's actually really good. It smells a lot like maple syrup, and its kind of sweet. I drank it mixed with milk and I highly recommend trying it at least once. Those asians...they can seriously make tea out of anything!

After making mochi we sat and watched Asian dramas together. It was so much fun! I haven't had someone to watch dramas with in a while but Shelia really enjoys them. She loved Buzzer Beat (hey me too!) and she likes Hana Yori Dango (which I might make my roommate watch...I dunno. I compared it to Pride and Prejudice...she compared it to Twilight...I don't know how I feel about that...haha!)

Does anyone feel I COMPLETELY overuse the ellipsis...?

Moving on, so that was TOTALLY amazingly fun. We watched Code Blue 2, Tokyo Dogs, and this hilarious one that I'm totally addicted to now called "Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge". It's about 4 good looking guys (its important that you know they're good looking, not because it's my opinion but because its part of the plot) that live in a boarding house and are told they have to move when the landlord doesn't want to have boarders anymore. They make a deal with her so that they can stay by agreeing to turn her niece into a lady. The thing about this niece? she's WEIRD! She wears a cloak, can't stand the brightness in people's countenances, and she sleeps in a coffin!

K yeah it sounds weird...and it is. but I'm addicted to it and can't wait for episode 3 to come out. I'm gonna go over and watch it with Shelia again. haha.

Well, last night I was SUPER tired to I actually came home at 8:30 and fell asleep....and didn't get up til 11:30 this morning! It felt soooooooooo good. Man, midterms really take it out of you. Along with having 8am class every day. That might kill you too.

So this afternoon, my MTC companion, Sister Webb (Amanda) came to visit cuz it was our 2 year mark!!! And cuz visiting is fun? It was so fun seeing her! Her hair is sooooooo long! She hasn't cut it since she was in the MTC. We had fun talking and then Kiku came over too and we talked some more and watched mission videos and talked some more.

Amanda and I were hungry but we were waiting for Tyler to come over and he was taking a while so we decided to look up a recipe for Nikuman (meat buns) online. I love nikuman...or I did. I don't know if I love it so much anymore...cuz I FREAKING GOT A VIRUS WHILE I WAS SEARCHING FOR A RECIPE!!!!

Yeah, life is cruel like that. So then Tyler came over and he and Amanda were talking while I called Sterling and asked him how to fix my computer.

K first off, let me put a disclaimer in here that I am NOT stupid. It was one of those viruses that tries to TELL you your computer is infected and to download something to fix it...yeah I KNOW. It's infected with YOU!

This stupid virus couldn't even speak ENGLISH. It said "You PC is at risk" Lame? Yes. Annoying? Very much so. Killer? APPARENTLY!

So I took it to Sterling's apartment and he loaded it up in safe mode and started messing with it but me and Amanda were still hungry so we went to grab food. When I came home, Sterling had gone out to play racquetball so I took my computer (which was running a virus scan) and went home. Well it STILL wasn't fixed so I called my mom and kept running spyware scans and stuff. It was freaking annoying, the thing kept jumping out of quarantine!

So I talked to my mom, could hear my dad talking to....probably Bro. Varney in the background, I went and got my neighbor Kaylynne, to come help me, she called her boyfriend, and we were all working on this thing like a MedSurge team or something! Finally, Kaylynne's boyfriend told her to download some Malware eradication program (malware bytes or something...HIGHLY recommended) and we installed it on my computer and FINALLY got rid of the dumb thing. Oh the temple has never looked so beautiful (that was my background before the dumb virus hijacked it and gave me that wonderful green screen of DEATH that you see in the picture up there. I am a happy camper. can you tell from the obviously posed picture placed there for illustration purposes?

Anyhow, it was an exciting weekend. And tomorrow is another day. But it's Sunday so hopefully nothing TOO exciting will happen. But I get to go visiting teaching, THAT'S exciting right?! Yeah I'm a terrible person and tomorrow is the end of the month...and my roommate is the visiting teaching supervisor. How on earth did I let that slip by?! Don't even ask... -_-

And PS...though I would like to say that I will never eat nikuman again...I know that's not true. haha.

Stay tuned for more adventures in the life of this Jessica!!!

Also, HAPPY 2 YEARS TO ME AND MY DOKI (everyone I was in the MTC with)!!! ^_^

Episode 7: In Which Jessica Fails a Test and Is Visited by the Package Fairy

That is what I look like when I fail a test. While I don't deny crying over it, that is not a picture of my crying...its just a picture to illustrate COMPLETE AND UTTER FRUSTRATION! =P

Now, I was debating on whether or not to include this random bit of a rain cloud in my otherwise sunny and happy blog, but I figured, what's life without rain? And maybe, if someone ELSE here struggles with chemistry failures, they'll find a kindred spirit and cheer up. Cuz life is far too enjoyable really to worry about Chemistry grades. Even if they COULD potentially keep you out of the school of nursing.

Anyhow, we're not really dwelling on that. I resolved on my way home not to worry too much. There are plenty of ways to get my nursing degree so I don't have to give it up and I can still get it AND graduate from BYU should the worst happen and don't get accepted. (which is still a ways off in the future mind you, I just STARTED the pre-reqs!)

So ANYHOW, I figure I'll just talk to my teachers tomorrow and see if I can't figure out a plan for the rest of the semester, and then I moved on with my life cuz dwelling on a failed test wasn't going to change it.

It was pretty comical now that I look back on it, to watch my hopes get crushed as I viewed the scored on the TV. All the scores being shown were 90s or 80's and so as I scanned the list my hopes of passing would grow. Then, there in the midst of all the 90's was a glaring 58 and as I looked at the corresponding ID number...my hopes came crashing down and I imagine would have made a lot of noise if dreams had any real weight to them at all.

Now that sounds utterly depressing and I can assure you at the time it was, but its kind of funny in a cruel sort of way now. And if you wanna look at the cup half full for a minute, hey, I stood out from the crowd for a second there! =P

Anyway, I'll stop with the morbid humor and move onto things that truly ARE happy! Like recieving the word of God in a tiny leatherbound book!

I got a package from Chiba-kun today! It was waiting for me when I came home. It was like an answer to prayer. See, people of little faith would think that maybe God didn't answer prayers cuz they prayed to pass their test...but didn't. But I think if we're in tune enough with the Spirit we can find the unexpected answers to our prayers even after seeming disaster has struck.

You might think its coincidence but at the rate I've been getting packages in this place...I would say you're wrong. I've had packages sitting in the office for weeks and no one has told me...but today they told me. It's a tender mercy I'm telling ya.

Anyhow, as you can see, there are many packages of curry udon, a CD, some hi-chew, a keychain, and A NEW GAPPON! (Japanese triple combination). I had the curry udon for dinner and shared the peach hi chew with my roommates. I had an enjoyable evening talking with my roommates about boys...or listening to Kelli talk about boys. (She was trying to give a description of her ideal guy to Aaron so that he could find her someone to date) and I got lectured by Aaron because he apparently has an alarm set on his watch for 1am that tells him he should have been in bed an hour ago...so he was up last night when I was studying chem and I didn't call him for help. If I had KNOWN he was up I TOTALLY would have called. Well, now I know.

Yep! Pretty much amazing! I love food, it instantly makes everything better. And those few things it can't fix, are easily fixed by good friends and laughter.

So that is the tale of how I survived my first midterm session (actually I still have Japanese tomorrow...and if I fail that I MIGHT commit seppuku haha) and how the package fairy visited me in my hour of need, bearing deliciousness from Japan and a brand new gappon! And a cool Ghibli CD. And thus we see that by small and simple means, are great things brought to pass. No really, you can CLEARLY see the difference. ^__^

Tomorrow will be a grand day too because I am going to the asian market with my new friend Shelia. I met her in my Human Development class and she's from China. We're going to make mochi tomorrow cuz she used to go to BYU-Hawaii and her friends there taught her how! I'm super excited!!!

Episode 6: In Which Jessica Eats a Pig's Ear and WAY Too Many Cupcakes

For the record, pigs ear, even when its cooked, looks raw and tastes raw. Other than that, there isn't much taste that I noticed. It was just pretty gross. I look like I'm happily eating it, but that's cuz I refuse to be a pansy...I couldn't swallow it for like 10 minutes =P


For Family Home Evening last night we did fear factor. Each of us had to take a turn and randomly choose a numbered plate. Rebekah figured out that they were numbered in order of grossness factor but that didn't spare us from being the brave souls to partake of the disgusting stuff. I ended up with pigs ear, which I bravely ate without showing my disgust. Rebekah had to eat pigs feet, Kelli and Rhiannon got the wonderful task of eating the chicken's feet, and Candace luckily enough got off with baby food. The only thing worse than what the girls had to eat was silk worms...which even I couldn't bear to touch. The boys were such pansies... Though I must give Steve credit for eating the silk worms even though it wasn't his turn and Gary must be acknowledged for his bravery in attempting the silk worms, even if we had to coerce him into getting up there in the first place.

It was pretty gross but it was pretty fun. And at least I know I'm not a baby. I was actually the first girl to volunteer to go up. I came home to cupcakes that Rhiannon made on sunday...they were left all alone on the counter with an implied "Eat Me" sign on them, so how could I resist? I ate like 4 while attempting to tell myself I was washing the pig's ear down. Then I went to bed.

This morning I got up and decided I wanted to tie my braids over my head like Heidi...how long could it take right? Uh, try 45 minutes cuz the bobby pins wouldn't hold. I finally finished and grabbed my shoes and a granola bar on my way out the door to run to class. Having spent so much time being vain and doing my hair, I had failed to look outside and see the blanket of snow everywhere. I had chosen my cloth sneakers today...my feet were wet and cold on the way to school. Luckily, God loves me so it was powdered snow, still wet and cold, but it takes much longer to penetrate any surface.

I came home to change after school and also pick up some packages in the complex office. Suikoden finally came! As did the USB cord I needed for my printer (Printed my nursing assignment out all by myself! its a wonderful printer!) and a letter from Elder Francis.

Elder Francis was my district leader in my last area and he totally cracks me up. I couldn't help but smile for the rest of the day just cuz I was thinking about his letter. I'll show you precisely why. See that letter right there? That's from him. He photocopied his hand and sent me a high five! That is the best thing I've ever seen! haha!

Tonight I went to the temple.(After eating the remaining 6 cupcakes for dinner haha!) It was strange being so close to the MTC on the very week of my two year mark (I entered the MTC on January 30th 2008). A million memories came flooding back to me all at once. It was like I could see the ghostly images of my memories everywhere I looked. I could see missionaries jumping from the fountain, and posing on the stairs, even though it was dark and no one was actually there. As I walked into the temple I felt strange because the last time I had walked through the doors of the Provo Temple, I was flanked on either side by Webb shimai (aka Amanda) and Beaufort Shimai (aka Kiku). As I changed in the dressing room I almost laughed as I remembered Webb shimai exclaiming that her feet were "kusai" when she took off her shoes.

I went with the relief society sisters to do baptisms but they have so many sisters that aren't endowed at the provo temple that they don't allow endowed sisters to participate in baptisms. I was the only one there that had received my endowments and so I went by myself to do big kid temple work =P

On my way out of the temple I was walking through the parking lot and I saw a huge mound of snow in the corner. The ghostly images were back and I could see my district posing on the mountain for a picture. I almost took a picture of it, empty and lonely as it was, just for old times sake.

I really miss my district. I see Sterling and Tyler pretty regularly of course, but I can't wait until Harris, Allen, Howe and Smith get back. And I'm super excited because Amanda is coming down to Provo to visit this weekend on our 2 year mark!

Upon returning home, my nostalgia was put on the back burner for my life now. I went with some of my friends to the cocoa bean! Yes...we frequent that place often. Gotta make sure it stays in business ya know!?! I got a mexican cocoa bean drink (cocoa and cinnamon) and I splurged and bought...a strawberry lemondade CUPCAKE! Yeah...I'm pretty sure that's all I ate today...and my tummy kinda doesn't like me right now, but oh well!

It was so much fun just to go and relax and laugh (a LOT) with my friends. And the strawberry lemondade cupcake was pretty darn good by the way. Not the BEST, but pretty good. ^_^ I'd like you all to note once again the adorable hair. I did get it to work...though I learned a valuable lesson in vanity. That's all for now! See you again soon!

Episode 5: In Which Jessica Cleans House and Slams Tim Tams

Hello! how are you all today!?! When we last saw me it was snowing and guess what! It's snowing again! Yeah! you wanna see pictures!?! I get to walk towards that everyday on my way to school!!! well sorta...that's actually south of campus on the way to Sterling's apartment.

That actually leads me to what I was gonna talk about! Today I went to Sterling's apartment to make Yakisoba. I actually provided the Yakisoba and the tim tams, but I took the stuff over to his place because he and Tyler live south of campus so I figured I'd go to where they live instead of making them both come out to my place.

Anyhow, upon arrival at Sterling's, I was less than shocked to find the kitchen a mess. That's what you get for cooking at a boy's apartment I guess. Well I can't work in a messy kitchen so I rolled up my sleeves and started to do the dishes. Well, I couldn't just stop there (though there were a LOT of dishes...try like every dish in the apartment almost, including the blender!) and I had to clean off the table and straighten everything up. As I was finishing up I realized that I had just spent a good 2 hours cleaning the kitchen, and I felt like Chiaki Shinichi from Nodame. =P

Anyhow, Tyler and his roommate came over and we had so much fun talking about the mission while I finished cleaning and made the food. Sasuga boys, they just sat and talked while I made the food. Sterling handed me the noodles when I needed them, but that's about it. Ok and he chopped all the stuff. I actually didn't mind, I could still cook and talk with them and so it was all good. I felt kind of bad for Braden (Tyler's roommate) cuz he went to Australia, Chinese speaking on his mission so he had to sit through all our mission stories without much to say that we would understand. =P

But Braden was a good sport and I tried to talk to him about his mission. There are similarities among missions (like THAT companion) or you can compare mission presidents (President Hill wins) so it's not too bad. And turns out that Braden used to live in AZ and he was wearing a filiberto's shirt and so we talked about that and how amazing it is. Seriously, its so cheap for how much food you get and we definitely wanted to go. Even though I was making delicious yakisoba. haha.

After lunch/dinner (we started at 1 but I spent so much time cleaning that we didn't eat til like 4) Braden was nice enough to do the dishes and I made Sterling make the hot chocolate so we could slam Tim Tams! Woo hoo! It was so fun, and because Braden served in Australia, he knew what Tim Tams were too! And by the way, Tim Tams and mint hot cocoa are a beautiful combination! That's Sterling and Tyler Jan Ken Po'ing for the last Tim Tam. Tyler won =P

So afterwards, Tyler and Braden left to take Tyler's ski's into the ski shop and I went with Sterling to run errands because I didn't want to go home yet. We went grocery shopping and I broke this week's budget on 83 cent margarine. Haha, well actually cuz I got a 50 dollar backpack this week (totally worth every penny by the way) I went over budget this week by like 10 dollars, but I needed margarine for my cooking adventures tomorrow so I sacrificed my budget. I started a weekly budget and I only have about 80 dollars a week to spend...which still seems really high but I guess its cuz I'm not living at home anymore.

Anyhow, it was really fun. Now I'm home and I'm writing my blog and listening to the music that Sterling gave me. It's amazing! He's educating me in the sounds of American Rock music...I only know oldies (not a bad thing) and Japanese music haha. I had no idea what I was missing!

Episode 4: In Which Jessica Makes a Cake and Sees SNOW!

When last we left me, I was making lots of new friends! I still am...though I think I suffer from some kind of Returned Missionary disease called "I don't really remember HOW to make friends" but whatever. Just like I don't understand how things get from "he's cute" to "let's get married" (I heard that in a conversation last night), I'm not quite sure how all my friends went from "you're cool" to "let's hang out all the time!" =P





Anyhow, this week has been full of all kinds of fun, starting with 2 all nighters and sleeping in and missing class! I know I didn't put that in the episode title, though it was a very big event in my life...there was just not enough room for it in the title and I think people would rather read something about cake than about missing class. Don't worry, it's not a lie...I do intend to mention cake. =P



So last weekend, I had 3 papers to write and I failed miserably in my endeavor. Monday found me holed up in my room with writers block to the extreme. My roommate took pity on me and dragged me (that's really a relative term because all she ACTUALLY did was say the word "cupcake") out of my room and to the cupcake cafe down the street.



The cupcakes are kind of, well, they're cupcakes. But what I love about that place is their drinks. The place is like Starbucks for Mormons. Seriously. all those fancy sounding lattes and stuff at starbucks? They have stuff like that here but its all hot chocolate! And it's made from roasted cocoa beans so its REALLY good. Don't believe me, go try it!



Now that I've advertised for the Cocoa Bean, let me move on.



So I struggled with my paper before finally quitting, resigned to go to the writing lab on Tuesday, and I got on with my other papers. I finished everything at 5am and slept on the couch so that I was sure to wake up. I figured that if I was in the living room, I would hear my roommates wake up and start doing stuff and I was more likely to get out of bed. I was right too, it worked!



So I went to class and then to the writing lab where I got lots of help from the wonderful tutor and felt entirely more prepared for my paper that night. I hadn't however, counted on chemistry...the bane of my existence. Before I could do my paper that night I had to tackle chemistry. AUGH. It took me until midnight to finish. Then once I started my paper again, though my thoughts were finally flowing, I still didn't finish til 5am.



My fatal mistake this time around was that after 2 days with no sleep, I went to sleep in the secluded comfort of my ROOM! Do you want to know how tired someone is after that long with no sleep? Allow me to illustrate.



I have 3 very loud alarms on my phone and the last one goes off at 7:30am. I woke up feeling strangely refreshed after only an "hour" of sleep and looked at the clock which read 10am. I slept soundly through all three of those alarms...which had been going off every 5 minutes since 6:30 am!!! Totally didn't hear them at ALL!

So basically, I stayed up all night to finish a paper that ended up being late anyhow. huh! fancy that!

I treated myself creamery ice cream and french fries to ease my pain. yum!


On Thursday it was my roommate, Candace's birthday and so I made a cake! It was so much fun and everyone loved it! They thought it looked pretty, even though it really didn't. But no one wanted to cut into it because it was pretty and it was fun to see everyone taking pictures of it. ^_^

Today I finished my Chemistry homework early, it only took half an hour! It was mostly matching things on the periodic table so it wasnt' hard, but I'm not gonna complain about that. So I have had all day to relax! I've just been watching movies all day and translating manga!

Today when I came home from school, Rebeckah and I wanted to have an adventure so we went to the flower shop to get new flowers for our table. They are very cute flowers. It's a little gerber daisy surrounded by poms. I have no idea what those are. haha. but they are cute! Afterwards we went to the cocoa bean and got hot chocolate. oh how delicious that stuff is!!!

I'm pretty much all out of money for the weekend (I put myself on a budget) so I'm just chilling here all weekend. I'm probably going to have a yakisoba and tim tam party with Tyler and Sterling tomorrow.

Right now, it is snowing outside. I just watched someone get pelted by a snowball and it was funny. Oh how pretty the snow is when you don't have to shovel it. ^_^

Episode 3: In which Jessica Reaquaints Herself with Old Friends and Makes Some New Friends

When last we saw me, I was doing pretty darn well for myself at the Y. Oh how I love it here. This week was pretty crazy and forgive me but I hardly remember the chronology of it all, but let's take a look at what I'm up to.

My classes are all going well, except for chemistry which I promise you is out to cause my untimely death. My teacher likes to open class with a spiritual thought about learning and science everyday (most classes here at BYU do, it's the nice thing about being in a church college) but I don't like it one bit when it comes to Chemisty. Nope, spiritual thought in chemistry just make me guilty, like I'm hating Sunday school or something.

But Japanese is by far my favorite class. Granted, there are two guys in there who have singlehandedly convinced me that IQ levels drop the further north you serve. (they served in Sapporo). Seriously, we were talking about the word "upon" once, and one of them raised his hand and said "but no one uses the word "upon" anymore." UPON hearing this I chose to be offended and think he was stupid. But really, despite stupid people, how can you possibly dislike a class where you can see your friends every morning? Even though it's at 8am, the prospect of seeing my friends gets me out of bed...even when I'm ignoring the Holy Ghost. But luckily, that's not the ONLY place I see my friends.

This week was a time for "renewing old...aquaintances." (kudos to anyone who knows what movie that came from! It's tough I know =P )

So as I mentioned before, Elders Williams and Ward are home now and I get to see them ALMOST everyday. Unfortunately, the Japanese class got split in half and me and Tyler are in one class while Sterling is in the other class...so I only see him on Tuesdays and Thursdays now.

Then on Tuesday, Sterling didn't even show up to class cuz he slept in! Dweebface. =P So I met him for lunch so I could show him my notes. I never actually showed him my notes though cuz we were too busy talking. We also ran into Casey Payne, a guy from Sterlings mission who is also in our Japanese class. He was companions with Elder LaRose and is the one that told Sterling that LaRose had a crush on me. EWWWW. Casey sits next to me in Japanese and calls me "LaRose's crush. I'm sworn to hate him forever. haha, he's actually a really cool guy so I don't hold the whole LaRose thing against him...much. =P Anyhow, I listened to them talk about their mission for most of lunch. It was fun. Mission stories are so much fun to listen to...but 10 times more so when you know you have your own to tell.

After lunch, I ran into Danielle Reeder briefly, which was also fun.

As for other people I've run into up here in Provo, I ran into Josh Doying in the Wilk the other day and then again in the library on Friday. I had gotten on Facebook (even though I had homework...what else is new right?) and he was on chat, so I said hi and he told me he was in the library. When I told him that I was too, he told me to come up to the 4th floor and join him. When I got there Elder Lee and Sister Topham were there too. (more people from my mission obviously. I also saw Elder Evans sitting across from me before I packed up to go to the 4th floor. It was pretty crazy stuff. OH! And I had run into Elder Metts on my way into the library. haha.

Also in the Wilk, I was looking at community service ads when suddenly a guy walked right into my line of vision and stayed there. I was about to get irritated until I noticed he was looking straight at me and that it was Elder Metts. While we were talking, Elders Mariana and Lee showed up as well. It is so much fun going to school and seeing so many people you know on campus! When I was at MCC I rarely saw people I knew on campus...but that could be cuz we LIVED in the institute building and rarely left it. haha.

On Friday evening there was a Japan Club meeting which I was in attendance at. We ate Dorayaki (pancakes with anko in them!) and I got to see my friend Savannah! ^_^

Well, as fun as seeing old friends is, making NEW friends is super fun! I've met quiet a few people this week and I plan to meet a whole lot more!

I've gotten closer to my roommates now, even though I'm frequently in my room pretending to do homework, I venture out to talk to them every now and again to make sure they don't think I'm a loser. Rebeckah and I get along particularly well and enjoy talking about musicals, movies, and other random things.

In my human development class I met a girl names Shelia. She's from Taiwan, or China I think...I've actually not asked yet. But she's really sweet and I sit next to her in class everyday. She's new so I let her borrow my notes from class and we kinda started talking from there. She WAS in my chemistry class as well but she dropped it and picked up Chem 285 in its place. She's also a pre-nursing major.

On Thursday, I had my dinner group and Relief Society Activity. Dinner group is a group of about 25 of us who get together monday through thursday for dinner. One person cooks a night so you get a decent meal every night but only cook like once a month. I made taco rice on Thursday and now lots more people seem to know who I am haha. I also seem to know a few more people too. I met a really nice guy named Dallas at dinner group on Thursday and he invited me to sit with him at church today so that was nice. ^_^

At the Relief Society activity I was a little nervous because it seemed that my roommates all got seated at the same table while I was at the table furthest from them but I soon found that I was seated at a table with some of the cutest, bubbliest girls in the whole ward. One of them, Marissa, is super friendly and only lives like 2 door down from me. She invited me to come over and play anytime, and she's one of those people that means what they say. She's really nice. When she heard I had gone to Japan on my mission she immediately bombarded me with questions about food. I didn't mind, I enjoy talking about food.

Then today at church I met the other three RM sisters in my ward. They're really nice and I sat with them for most of church so I'm branching out of my apartment. Yay!

I know that was less than informative...sorry. haha.

This weekend was spectacularly splendiferous! First the Japan Club meeting and then I went to eat pizza with Sterling. I invited Tyler too but he was going to the volleyball game. Dinner was super fun. We talked about our missions...duh. We also saw Farnsworth Sensei (a teacher from the MTC) and I realized that I have gotten used to being in the US. We got our drinks and Sterling thought his was huge, whereas I thought mine was normal. A second later I realized that he was shocked because drinks in Japan are super small...and I also realized that that meant I had gotten used to being in America.

After dinner, I foolishly returned home thinking I would do my homework. What I didn't do was homework...what I did do was talk to Sterling on the internet for hours. What the crap!? I should have just not gone home. At about 10 Emily (Sister Perkins) called and said she was picking me up for a movie so I happily put on my super cute boots and waited for her to come get me.

We (me, Emily, Sterling, and some random 14 year old kid named ben) went to the dollar movies to see...whatever was playing. We ended up deciding on "Couples Retreat" but it didn't start til midnight so we went to wendy's for ice cream. We talked about movies and such on the way and made fun of Rachel and how she deserved to die in batman because she's stupid. Seriously...you have Bruce Wayne/Batman/Millionare/HOT and then you have Harvey Dent/ew! and she picks HIM!?! What was going through that woman's head?! She was so ugly she was LUCKY that Batman liked her!

Anyhow, I digress. After we finished our ice cream, we went to see the movie. Long story short, it wasn't a good movie and I spent most of it with my hat pulled over my eyes. That's what I get for going to see a PG-13 movie without researching it first. The beginning was kind of cute with a married couple and two kids who seem to all get along and love each other, and the end had a good message about making time for each other in your marriage and whatnot...but I think the Church gives us the same message in the Family Proclamation WITHOUT all the unncessary sexual innuendos/not innuendos. Long story short, I felt much more stupid after having been in that theater.

I came home and Saturday I pretended to do homework all day...while talking to Sterling online. About 10pm we both decided that we needed lives. badly. but it was too late to do anything because curfew was in 2 hours and its a 20 minute walk between our apartments.

Today after church I tried to do my homework...really I did. I thought about it anyhow. But instead I made dinner with Rebeckah and her boyfriend, Curtis. He used to live in Japan so we talked about that and we subjected poor Rebeckah to mission stories. She was a good sport and let us continue though, too distracted by her cookbook to care.

Curtis also likes to bake so we decided that we are all going to make potato soup and sourdough bread bowls for dinner next sunday. Curtis is going to start the sourdough on Tuesday. Yay! fresh sourdough!!! I'm so excited!!!

After dinner and storytime, we started talking about random disney songs somehow...then we started talking about Anastasia (which isn't disney, I know) and then we ended up in front of the TV watching it. Kelli and Candace walked in and stopped to watch it as well and then the hilarity ensued. While watching Anastasia ignore Dimitri, Candace was yelling "GIRL! Go after him girl! Man I should be in this movie; I would be telling people how it should be!" Kelli calmly replied, "Candace, if you were in this movie, you'd be like a slave." (Candace is black =P)

There were too many funny comments like that one to possibly relate to you all so that one will have to suffice. Sorry this post was really long, but I'm caught up now so I can start making shorter posts about just one subject.

I love my new friends at BYU! ^_____^

Episode 2: In which Jessica Wonders If She's SUPPOSED To Be Enrolled in BoM and Ignores the Holy Ghost

When last we left me, I was aquainting myself with classes and the BYU campus. Now a resident expert (hardly) my life is in full swing here at the Y!

Well Monday morning I went to Japanese and had fun talking with Sterling (gah! that is SERIOUSLY so hard to say. After Japanese I went to my Human Development class and then from there to chill in the library. I called Sister Beaufort (Kiku, and she was my MTC companion, one of them) and asked if she wanted to have lunch. Well she called me back after she got out of class and so I had fun talking to her while I wandered the campus looking for the Benson building.

Because I was on the phone, I failed to notice the aforementioned building right in front of me as I exited the JSB (Joseph Smith Building). So, I walked pointlessly back to the Wilk to grab a map and then realized what I had done. My legs were tired from walking (I walk twice as fast when I'm on the phone) and I felt pretty silly. =P However, of all the strange coincidences, while in the JSB I ran into Jessica, a girl who was in my geography class and institute class at MCC last semester. Random!

Well at 2pm I went to Chemistry, and left it with a false sense of "this is ok...I can do this". Then I met Kiku and we went to the asian market where food was REALLY expensive! But I bought it anyways. haha. That same night, Matt came to pick me up so I could go see Clarissa's new baby (who is sooooooooooooooooooooo cute and tiny!) and then Matt brought me home again JUST in time for ward FHE. We went on a scavenger hunt around the mall, they let you do that in Utah, they must be used to mormon activities. =P The picture at the top is from our scavenger hunt...but for some reason it posted up there and not down here. lame.

Tuesday I woke up at 6:30 again and went to Japanese where we got kanji drilled into our heads. It's early but I have no problems staying awake in that class. ^_^ Maybe...

Next I had Book of Mormon and I had carefully memorized the building and the location of the building it was in. Lucky for me it was the building right next to my Japanese class. Unlucky for me, I had neglected to memorize what ROOM NUMBER it was in before going to class. AUGH.

By the time I managed to look up where my class WAS, it was over. So I contented myself with reading the syllabus and getting started on my homework for other classes. This would probably be the last time I actually bothered to read the textbooks for my classes.

At 3 I went to my nursing class (which by now I had looked up the room number for so that we didn't have a repeat of Book of Mormon. There's nothing interesting to say for Nursing yet, we just did get to know you stuff.

That night I was sitting in my room studying Japanese when St...Williams (GAH! I just can't call him by his first name! old habits die hard...) texted and asked if he could borrow my Japanese book cuz he hadn't bought it yet. So he came over after my interview with the bishop (which was very basic and he told me to attend all the activities and make friends) and we did Japanese together. He did significantly less Japanese than I did...mostly cuz I was hogging the book and because we were super confused over the layout of the syllabus, but it was fun nevertheless. After he left, I continued doing my homework. (I can assure you that drive to do my homework has lessened...and I usually spent the last 10 minutes before bed doing my Japanese homework now. haha.)

Wednesday morning came and I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I had been doing a pretty good job going to bed at a decent hour and I was getting up at 6:30-6:45 no problem. I thought perhaps it was because I was motivated to go to Japanese class. Well, if I was motivated before, my motivation doubled on Wednesday because halfway through class, who should walk in but Tyler (formerly known as Elder Ward)! Oh if my joy were great with ONE soul from my MTC district imagine how great my joy was with MANY souls...or at least two. haha.

So I left Japanese thinking that nothing oould absolutely ruin my happiness. Nothing. Nothing except...chemistry.

I TOTALLY DON'T GET IT! I'm just gonna have to set up residence in the tutor labs...probably marry a chem tutor. Not my FIRST choice for a husband...talk about booooooooring. But if it gets me through chemistry =P

So on Thursday I attended Japanese as usual, fully aware this time of where my Book of Mormon class was. I calmly walked to it after Japanese only to sit down and discover that I had left my scriptures in Japanese! At this point I was seriously wondering if I should have signed up for New Testament or something because I felt like God was telling me that I wasn't meant to be in Book of Mormon this semester. haha!

Because I get out of class on Thursdays at 10, I walked back to my apartment and proceeded to do homework right? No...I went back to my apartment and goofed off on facebook and watched movies all day. Around 10pm I decided that I should take a shower so I went to do that and then remembered that I had Japanese homework and I had better do it. So I sat down on the computer and proceeded to talk to Sterling (HA! I did it! I called him by his first name!) for a couple hours and THEN decided to do my homework. I finally shut my books at about 12:30 and snuggled in to go to bed.

As I lay there a thought came to my head that said "where is your phone (my alarm clock)". I panicked for a moment thinking that perhaps I had left it in the bathroom when I went to take a shower but decided I was too engrossed in going to sleep to worry about it.

The voice said "look, I know you think you don't care, but you should just check" to which I replied "Ummmm...look, I'm already in bed, I'm sure it's on my dresser or something and I'll hear it in the morning"

I turned over and buried my face into my pillow to make my point but the voice was not to be thus deterred as it came again "look, so you won't get out of bed but there's your mission alarm clock right next to you, why don't you turn it on just in case"

From my pillow I mumbled, "that thing is annoying"

"But it's already set for 6:30, come on...just in case" sounded the voice again

"I'm going to bed now! zzzzzzzzzzzzz"

The next morning my alarm went off from the shelf at the foot of my bed and I triumphantly smiled....before going back to bed. Amongst my dreams I heard a "wake up!" and instantly shook awake. I glanced at my clock which read "6:59" and thought "it's ok, I've got half an hour before my alarm goes off" and I rolled back over to go to sleep.

the voice came again, "wake up!" and I jerked awake once more, internally glaring at the voice and glancing at my clock.

'7:29'

"LOOK voice...I still have 1 minute to....OH MY GOODNESS IT'S 7:29!?! I HAVE CLASS IN HALF AN HOUR!!!"

Somehow, I managed to get dressed and still make my bed AND get to class at 8:59. Panting, I sat into my seat and I could almost hear a voice saying "told ya" ...but the Holy Ghost isn't like that is he? =P

The rest of the day went without incident and I eased into the weekend quite easily. On Saturday, my old mission companion, Erica Powell, came over to play. We went and wandered around the Provo Towne Center mall, never buying anything but trying things on just for fun. We had the most fun trying on hats at the Icing...I do believe I've got a new weakness for hats.

We went to lunch at an Indian retaurant and I had Mango Lassi for the first time since coming home! I simply MUST make it at home because I can drink SO much Lassi! It's the greatest drink ever made! We were with her sister, who just got home from study abroad in India, so she taught us the proper way to eat Indian food, with your hands! It was so fun to eat with my hands in a public restaurant and the employees were very impressed. haha.

That night I was trying to do homework and failing, so I went over to Sterling's apartment to do my homework. It was so fun! I love doing homework with friends. It's usually not very productive, but it's fun.

And that pretty much concludes my first week at BYU! I know I didn't include sunday...well I went to church. Oh! I met a really nice guy...then found out he was 18 and felt immediately awkward.

That's all for my first week of school! Stay tuned for next week! (my next entry will shove a whole week into one entry too, then they'll be shorter and more specific)

Episode 1: In Which Jessica Aquaints Herself With BYU

Ok so I decided to just get it over with and catch you up to life here at BYU because honestly, so much happens everyday that I could write like 4 entries just on today! But I'll start with my first week.


After much shoe shopping and searching I was finally ready to move into my new apartment. I was a jumble of nerves, not knowing who my roommates were or what they were like. I was scared to go into the apartment at any hour other than 1pm for fear of offsetting people's routines and I was scared they'd think I had a lot of stuff, what they'd think when they found out I was 23, etc.

Amusing Anectdote: I was hanging my 'Class of 05' hat on the wall as I was moving in and offhandedly said "Watch, my roommates are gonna be like '05!? that's so old!' cuz they all graduated in 08" 10 minutes later I turned and on the wall was my roommates graduation tassel...'Class of 08'"

Well needless to say that I soon found that I had nothing to fear. My roommates are all wonderful, every single one of them. My personal roommate, Rhiannon, is from the Bay Area and an all around well rounded person with interests in just about every category. We have about the same sleep habits so sharing a room isn't a struggle of any sort. (though I do go to bed MUCH earlier these days due to an 8am class)


My other roommates are Kelli and Candace, who like boys. A LOT. Not a day goes by that I don't hear Kelli walk in the door and immediately say "I LOVE *insert boys name here* It's generally a different boy every day but centers around the same three guys with a new one popping up every once in a while and we all laugh. Kelli and Candace are really fun and outgoing; it's helped me ease into life at a hastened pace. Candace is frequently heard trying to assure you that she's not always as crazy as she's acting, but I've yet to see her act any differently. She also seems to be the one that tries to keep Kelli under control...but incidentally usually makes Kelli say something ELSE hilarious. Hee hee. They specialize in "spying" and can be seen running for the peephole when they hear people in the hallway.

My other two roommates are Rebeckah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Rebeckah have quieter personalities but that doesn't mean they are quiet. Rebeckah has a laugh that is infectious and you can't help laughing with her even when you have no idea why you are laughing. She loves theatre and good musicals and laughing so she's really fun to be around. She's the type to pop their head in the door just to say hi when you've been holed up in your room doing homework all day. Elizabeth likes movies and she has good taste in them too. I've enjoyed every movie I've watched with her thus far, though "The Kite Runners" was really sad.


So there is the rundown on my living situation. On to school!


I've now survived nearly 2 weeks of university life and I'm loving every second of it. Maybe that's why I'm writing a blog about it?


After a week I've sort of set myself into a routine and things are coming easier. I haven't been lost on the campus per say, but I have walked right past my building because I wasn't paying attention. It is a huge campus though so give me time, I'm sure I'll lose myself someplace.

On Monday through Friday, bright and early at 8am, I have Japanese 300. It's by far my favorite class for 2 reasons. It's Japanese...duh. And Elder Williams (probably perhaps hereafter referred to as Sterling...if I can get used to it...) and Elder Ward (Tyler) are in that class with me. For those who may not know, I was in the same MTC district with them and I have missed them terribly since. It's wonderful seeing familiar faces first thing in the morning. (check that out, my life's story comes complete with alliteration!)


After Japanese on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I go to Human Development. It's a tolerably interesting class. Right now we're just talking about research methods so I have been known to catch up on the sleep I miss waking up at 6:30 every morning during my stay in that class, but it's getting more interesting.


On Tuesday and Thursday I have Book of Mormon, which is a tiny class of only 6 people so the discussions are very fun and my teacher is super nice.

On Tuesday I also have Intro to Nursing but there's not much to say on that class, except that I have a paper to do for it that's due on Tuesday. I've only been to two classes so far and so I don't know what to make of it.


On Monday Wednesday and Fridays, after a nice long, relaxing break, I head over to Chemistry and have my mind numbed by numbers that hardly make sense. I really don't like that class. But I do like to watch the teacher blow things up, he blew up a swedish fish the other day and it was like a firecracker!


So now you know the basics and should be able to understand subsequent posts. Stay tuned!

Prologue: All Growed Up and Swimming in a Bigger Pond

I've stepped into a new world and so I thought I needed a new blog! Mostly cuz I haven't been journaling lately and it would be a shame to lose my personal history just cuz I'm lazy but also because I thought maybe people might want to know what I'm up to as this new chapter of my life (which I like to call Jessica at BYU) opens! It's been a week and I should have started this a few weeks ago but I didn't. Deal with it.

Anyhow, give me time and I'll get you filled in on what I'm doing here. Stay tuned for all my fun adventures!!!

I actually have to get to my Human Development Paper but don't worry, tomorrow is another day and I will soon divulge all the interesting things that have been going on since I stepped into my new growed up life!

Stay tuned for the next episode of Jessica!!!

PS. I've still got my other blog over there...but I haven't been thinking deep thoughts lately. My introspections on life go in the blog...my life goes in here.