The Last Long Weekend..

Not gonna lie, this past weekend was hands down one of the best I've had in a long time. Unfortunately I didn't get much homework done or get enough sleep.. but I'm pretty sure it was all worth it. :)

• Friday night I went with Darin to assist in getting Natalie a Build-A-Bear for Valentine's day. It was seriously the cutest thing ever!! He got her a monkey and dressed it up like him and even recorded his voice to put inside. A-dorable. It was fun to get to help show him all the ropes and see him have such a great time putting it all together for Nat! Then I went with Dallin to an awesome Faculty Recital. His uncle is an AMAZING pianist and was accompanying a faulty tenor. It was pretty darn amazing! I had a great time and really think I should try and go to more musical stuff! I love it. Then we got ice cream at the Creamery and skipped home singing musicals :) Yup, it was great.

• Saturday I worked for 8 hours, but it wasn't all that bad. We were pretty busy because of Valentine's Day, but I had a blast as usual! Then I had many fun adventures with my dear friend Holli! We stopped by Smith's and got some groceries, and then we came home and caught up on life. I don't like that we never get to see each other... Sometimes I think it really stinks that we're both managers.. and thus hardly ever at work at the same time. Sad. Anyway! We sat and caught up on each others' lives. Eventually some of my roommates came home and we talked with them for awhile. Then some girls beneath us had a pinata and so we all went down about midnight and had a pretty good time playing baseball with the poor chicken's head. Hahaha. . . Holli and I made a gazillion (I kid you not..) cookies. I realized half-way through putting the ingredients together that I usually half the recipe. So, we just stayed up and made all the cookies. Eventually (about 4 am..) I took her home. :) Can I just say how thankful I am for Holli Klare Smith!? I love my friends so darn much. God really does bless us with angels all around us, and I have no doubt that my friends are my angels.

• Sunday was church (and Valentine's day) which was awesome. My roommates and I had dinner with a bunch of our guy friends in the ward and they gave us each a pretty rose :) How sweet, right? Then my friend Drew and I made chocolate eclair cake. Uh-mazing. Luckily there was still some left today, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But seriously. I'll have to post the recipe later, cuz this stuff is like heaven in food form. And yes, I know I'm slightly biased, but don't lie - you know you want some.

• Monday, Tasch and I worked on our presentation for our History of Math class. We have to teach for half of the class on Friday about the history of the quadratic formula. It's actually pretty awesome if you ask me. *Warning, I'm about to get pretty nerdy. Don't judge. So back in the day, and I mean like... BC times.. they didn't use mathematical symbols to write out expressions, they just wrote them out with words. And so, they didn't solve equations algebraically as we do now, they would solve them geometrically. So, this awesome Arab, whose name escapes me, probably because I couldn't pronounce it if I tried.. came up with a method for solving for x which pretty much is the same as the quadratic formula - just without considering negative numbers! Pretty awesome if you ask me, but then again, I'm weird.* Anyway, so then I came home and hung out for little while before I had to go to work again.

So, overall there are two things I've learned - long weekends are amazing, and BYU is dumb for not giving us any more this semester. Seriously. Now begins the long haul until the end of April.

Honestly though, I had so many great talks with friends this weekend. That's what I like about life - the talking and listening and learning about other people, because that's what life is all about. Our relationships are what matter most. There's just something about reminiscing about childhood, learning someone's favorite things, lending an ear and a shoulder, knowing someone cares - that makes all the trials in life somehow seem easier to bear. I'm going to try harder to show those around me how much they mean to me, because I think sometimes we forget how blessed we are - I know I sometimes do. I love my friends and family more than anything.

I'm grateful for the most amazing friends - new and old. Don't get jealous, but I have the best ones ever.

Life These Days

It's been way too long since I've actually ever written anything on here, but for some reason, I've got the urge to start blogging again. I really like writing, but sometimes I just feel like words come more easily for me through conversation then when I try to put them together on paper. So, even though I'm not so sure I'm great at this.. I'll give it a shot.

Just as a quick update of my life, I'm still living in Provo and attending Brigham Young University. I'm studying Mathematics Education, and though sometimes I wonder why I've condemned myself, I really do look forward to having my own classroom in a short couple of years! I love learning about learning, and I can't wait to help students not only learn math, but learn to love math like they didn't know they could. This semester I'm taking some GE's and thus less math classes, and so I'm not procrastinating like I did last semester. I'm really proud of how on top of everything I've stayed. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it really does feel good to study and know that I'm getting things done - sometimes even earlier than needed. I also think that life is going a little better than it did last semester, but that's a story for later. . Anyway.

When I'm not in the Talmage building, I'm working at Build-A-Bear Workshop - the best job ever. I've been an Associate Manager for almost a year, and I've worked there for almost two. At times the job can be very demanding, but overall, I really do love my job. I love my co-workers, I love the atmosphere, but most of all, I love making people happy. There's just something about seeing a smile on a little kid's face when you hand them their new best friend. It's the most fulfilling feeling! I know I get paid.. but I honestly just love going to work and losing myself in helping others. It's seriously the best feeling and the best cure to a bad day! There have been days that I have dreaded going to work whether it be because I have so much homework, or because my day just hadn't gone too well, but when I decide to put a smile on and just make other people happy, I seriously find so much happiness myself. I love helping other people! And most of all, I love the contagiousness that smiles have! Another plus of the job is that I get to see the cutest little kids everyday! It makes me so excited for the day I have some of my own!! I seriously am so excited to be a mother! Guess I should probably find myself a man first.

And I guess you might be curious about that aspect of life as well. Well, there's not much to tell. I've got a lot of great friends, but I haven't really dated anyone in awhile. And you know, that's okay. Right now I'm really not sure where life is taking me, and what paths lie ahead, but all I know is I'm having patience - patience with the Lord, patience with time, patience with myself. I'm just at a point in my life where I could choose from many different paths. I'm 21 now, and so I could serve a mission if I'd like to, which I'm not sure about. I'd like to get married, too, but I know that it'll all happen in good time. So for now, I pray for patience knowing that no matter which path I take, I'm in God's care. I'm very much the person who's always looking ahead to the future and so sometimes I have a hard time living in the moment and living for today, but lately God's just told me to have patience and to love today. This hasn't been easy for me, but I've really started to see His hand in my everyday life and in places I had never imagined before. I know that when we slow down and remember Him, our lives will be blessed. I'm not sure where my life is taking me, but I know I'm doing the right things, and so everything will be okay.

Can I just say how amazingly empty the roads are at 4 am? My friend, Holli, came over last night and I took her home way late. I guess she pretty much spent the night when she said she wasn't going to, ha. But seriously, the roads were so empty. I felt like the only person alive - it was a neat feeling. It just got me to thinking, and then for some reason, despite the fact that it was 4 in the morning, I could not get to sleep. I've kinda been in a deep thinking mood the past few days, though, so I wasn't surprised when I couldn't get to sleep. I've just had such a great appreciation and gratitude for amazing friends. I can't tell you how many times my life has been blessed recently by the encouraging words or smile of a friend. I just hope that I've been half as good of a friend as mine have been to me. I seriously am so blessed! My roommates are the biggest blessing and bring such a spirit and sweetness into our apartment and my life! There's just something about being surrounded by such amazing people - you rise up, too! They lift me higher and make me smile everyday. I don't think I've ever been surrounded by such amazing friends.. and to think, just two years ago I moved up here with no friends at all, and now Provo has become more of a home to me than I could have ever imagined. That to me is evidence that God loves us. He is the reason I'm here. If not for Him, I'd still be at U.T., and let me tell you how grateful I am that He led me here! Best decision of my life. Hands down. I've found and am still finding amazing friends, I'm learning so much, I'm strengthening my own testimony, and I'm preparing myself for the rest of my life. Sometimes I do wish I were closer to home, I've found bits of home here in the friendships I have made.

And so, that's life these days. I do crazy math problems, I build bears, I try to make someone smile everyday, and I try to be the best I can be. I've started slowing down and learning to enjoy the amazing journey that life is. There are some days where I doubt and I struggle to carry on, but I try to have faith. I'm not sure where exactly I'll be in 3 years - but this I do know. I've got amazing friends, the best family, and a Father in Heaven who loves me more than I could ever know. What amazing reassurance!

I hope something made you smile today. If not, I'll make you smile. Just do it. You won't regret it. :)

Here's some videos for ya:
Something to give you hope.
Something to remind you that you're loved.
Something to make you laugh.
Something to keep you going.

Love and Laughter,
Tiffany.

Isn't life ridiculous?

Ok so yes, I am aware that the title of this entry and the previous entry both have the word ridiculous in them. I have no creativity, so shoot me. And, I like the word "ridiculous". Alright? Alright.
Ha. So remember how I was so freaked about my math grade? Weeeeelll, you might not believe me, but my worrying was not in vain, and it IS ridiculous that I actually (don't slap me) pulled off an A-. Yes, your eyes aren't failing you, I said I got an A- . Yup. I'm ridiculous. Ridiculously amazing. Ha, just kidding.
So! It's now officially summer! I've been working hardcore, especially now that I'm officially Associate Manager! I love it! You know, I'm really glad that I love my job, because if I didn't, my weeks would be h-e-double hockey sticks. I feel bad for people who don't like their jobs. .
But anyway, so the only other thing left to start doing is getting tan, cuz I'm definitely still as white as a marshmellow. The stupid pool isn't open yet. I mean, it's not like it's even warm enough yet. . but I really can't wait to start looking like a real person, and not some see-through being. Haha, just kidding.. I'm not that white. I hope.
I also haven't started reading Jane Austen yet. I'm not sure if I'm going to read Jane Austen or not, after all. I recently finished a (don't laugh at me) LDS love story trilogy. It was actually REALLY good. I mean, it was very soap opera-ish, but I loved it. Don't judge me.
I'm also kind of excited to see the Star Trek movie. Don't judge me about that either. Thanks.

Well, I'm ridiculously tired. And, in the words of someone great, the back of your head is ridicalous.

Ridiculous.

So I thought I'd write a blog. Seeing as I've had this blog set up forever, but actually made an effort to write anything whatsoever in it.

Let's see. So it snowed again today. Ridiculous if you ask me. . I'm ready for spring. I think it's hilarious when we have like 3 days of 60 degree weather. . and then it decides to snow again. Sometimes I just wish the weather would make up it's mind. For the longest time I thought winter was my favorite season, but I've decided that I miss the colors. A person can only take so much white-blah until they want more color in their life.

I'm way excited for this semester to be over. My summer will consist of working, and sitting by the pool getting tan. I'm pretty sure I'm going to read as much Jane Austen this summer as physically possible. . or until I run out of books. It'll either be Jane Austen or something else that someone suggests. I sit here drowning in mathematical equations and long for the day when I'll only look at Austen's amazingness. . . I wish math and I had more of a love-love relationship than our present state of hate-hate. Honestly, I've never been more afraid for my grade in class before in my life. Perhaps, if there's some shred of hope left in the universe, I can somehow pull off a C. Ugh, that makes me cringe. A Math Major getting a C in a math class. Nice. I should probably figure out what's going on in that class so that I can at least get some decent points on my test next week. Yeah, that might be a good idea.

Do you ever do something, something that you thought that you had thought out, and then later not really know why you did it? If that made any sense, than I'll continue. Sometimes I think that I try and convince myself that I'm ridiculous. . which, in and of itself actually is ridiculous. Maybe I should just have more faith in the fact that I thought it through and decided it was the best thing to do and stop second guessing myself. It's not like I can turn back time anyway. What's done is done, and I'm going to have to live with it regardless of how ridiculous it all may be.

Well, if that made any sense to you, then you win. What? I'm not sure, but you win. :o)