For November Cometh With a Vengeance

Today I enjoyed walking across campus in a T-shirt, eating ice cream, as snow gently fell to the ground. I got my fair share of odd looks for sure. But I got to give back those looks to all the freshman boys staring up into the sky, trying to catch snowflakes on their tongue. So many Texans here.

I started off the great month of November with two exams! One, in Humanities, I feel very good about. My acoustics...not so much. Both were exact opposite of the expected results. It's going to be a very test and paper filled month. But that's ok!

I also got to work for a really long time today. However, I got to take a break during that time to go and hear the prophet of the church speak at BYU devotional :) Yeah. It was cool. And his message was one I needed to hear.

The Silence

Yesterday morning as I walked to class, I became aware of a frightening level of silence. It was that silence so loud it seemed to reach the threshold of feeling. Only quiet footsteps and the occasional bicyclist broke through the awful stillness.

This morning I decided that, rather than face that complete quiet, I would listen to my iPod. Oh cruel iPod. The song that's been haunting me all morning is Christina Perri's The Lonely.

"The silent sound of loneliness wants to follow me to bed"

Casseroles, pictures, and Pappy

Today, I made the first real, more-than-three-ingredients, honest-to-goodness, home cooked meal since I got here. Twas hamburger rice casserole, which has been one of my favorite dishes since I was a child (it was pretty much the only way my poor mother got me to eat veggies). I wasn't sure how well it was going to work- I was using brown rice instead of white, it began to burn as soon as I put it in pan with butter, the shredded carrot idea was not working for me, the smell of garlic and raw meat were making my hyper-sensitive gag reflex very unhappy, etc...In the end I just threw it in the oven and hoped. After a while, it smelled extremely delicious...and then it started looking extremely delicious...and then I took it out and fed it to my roommates and they all said it was extremely delicious :) Success! It was a little saltier than I'm used to, but still quite good. So...I guess the point of this is...I *can* cook real food.

This is just something completely random I really wanted to post.

This is my grandmother. And she is just absolutely gorgeous. I was looking at her wedding pictures around midnight last night, and I just had to point out how beautiful she is.

Third section of this post: My dad is a pretty cool guy. I think one thing I really like about him is how clearly and honestly he looks at life...he sees things as they are, not letting covers and "decorations" deceive him at all. And that's cool. It also might be why he's such a pessimist, but if it helps him have one of the most brilliant minds I know, then hey! No big deal if the glass is half empty. Well, he actually doesn't see the glass, but...that's another story.

I'm a Survivor

Somehow, I managed to make it through the first week of college classes! It's been pretty exciting...Mondays and Wednesdays I go to Book of Mormon, Descriptive Acoustics of Music and Speech (this class is going to kill me!), Biology, and American Heritage, go to my apartment and do as much homework as I can, and then go back for my tap dance class. Tuesday, Thursday I have an 8am Humanities class and then work till 5:30 :P Pretty fun...

My Friday's were supposed to be great- 3 classes, first one at 10, done by 3, booyah. And then all my classes decided to have their labs that day...so now it's just as busy as MW, plus I work after I'm done with classes. Hooray? It's ok though, school and work are still quite fun :)

On Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to see Lea Salonga perform here at BYU. That woman is absolutely beautiful.

This is my somewhat failed attempt to take a picture of the program...that is her beautiful 40-year-old face. I hope I look that good when I'm 40. And I hope I sound that good when I'm 40! Goodness! She was fantastic! She sang quite a variety of music...opened with Feeling Good (Michael Buble style), sang a variety of Les Mis and Miss Saigon (Yum!), a Filipino song, the extended Disney's Reflection...she invited a college student to come and sing a Whole New World with her- how cool would that be?!? And he sounded dang good too. Just for fun, she sang Pokerface, which was awesome/hilarious.

She has the most perfect vibrato I've ever encountered- I was singing all day today, wishing I could sound like her :) Someday...

I found out today that my high school choir teacher accidentally called someone Hannah Thomas the other day. Ah, I feel missed.

One last thing- my theme for this semester of college is "Look up, like a little child." Before I started classes, my dad gave me a father's blessing and said those words. Then my bishop talked about it at ward prayer. And then it was mentioned in my Book of Mormon class. So I decided I should probably pay attention :) I put the two phrases on post-its and stuck them on my mirror to see every day. I only hope I will remember.

Huzzah!

Well, I had a nice blog post going, and then it exploded into some strange internet world, so basically the important point of it was...I got a job.

I'm working as a Subway Sandwich Artist in the BYU Cougareat, and I LOVE it! I'm quite thrilled with my job in fact. It's fun, fast-paced, satisfying...it's just great. I've been in training all week, and I get to work all next week, and then most of the week after that, and then when school starts I'll have longer hours twice a week. I'm very excited...it's so nice to have a job finally :)

Awkward Moments

As I mentioned in my last post, attending a single's ward is...entertaining.

I made a new friend in my ward, who makes it his business to be the ward gossip. He, Jason, knows who is single, who is taken, and who really wants to be taken. At Home Evening, we were sitting next to each other and, after finding out the guy on his left was taken, he turned to me and began to ask me about my life. I said I hadn't really been asked on a date in a while- I'm afraid of boys and fine just as I am thank you very much. He immediately started going around the room asking me if I was attracted to this or that boy.
"Do you think Durfee's cute?"

Well, yes...?

"Especially with the v-neck?"

Of course. But he's not really my type...

"What is your type?"
I don't actually have a type, I just said that 'cause you're interrogating me.

--

So we move outside for the FHE lesson and a game called "The Cold Wind Blows." Basically the game is the group sits in a circle, with one person in the middle. The person in the middle says, "The cold wind blows on anyone who..." is wearing socks, has been out of the country, etc. Whoever the statement applies to has to get up and find a new seat.
Before the game begins, Jason leans over to me and, indicating the guy on his right, asks, "Do you think Austin is cute?" As he'd been asking me this all night, I just ignored him. He then leaned over, unbeknownst to me, and said to Austin, "Hannah thinks you're cute. She would totally go out with you." The game started and it was a lot of fun. Then the last round came. Jason was stuck in the middle and said, "The cold wind blows on anyone who would go on a date with Austin." I stood up and looked for another seat, and, as I ran to it, I realized I was the only girl standing- all the guys had stood up as a joke, and not one other female had been brave enough to admit they thought he was cute. Hmmm...awkward.

Many more wonderfully awkward Mormon moments to come, I'm certain.

Momma I'm a Big Girl Now

June was quite the month. First, I went to England. And I would talk about that, but I would suggest my few readers just look at my album on Facebook. Or ask me about it...it's kind of too much for a little blog post :)

So...I got back from England, tanner, wiser and 18. I spent the week after I got home doing a lot of job hunting in Rexburg... unsuccessful job hunting. By the end of the week, it became apparent that this Rexburg-thing wasn't going to work for me career-wise. So I packed up and moved to Provo two months early!

I've been here over ten days now and I'm...loving it? Ok...it's kind of hot...and I haven't been able to find a job despite a billion applications and a couple interviews...and my brain is melting with Disney Channel on all the time...Oh, and every one wants to get me married. Let me tell you a story.

I had an interview with the 2nd counselor in my new single's ward after filling out a new-ward-member sheet. We talk for a while and then he sees on the sheet that I play the cello. Then he starts talking about Hector Hernandez. "He plays the cello. Nice kid, very handsome, lives in the ward boundaries but goes to the Spanish ward, not sure why, his English is excellent, he hardly has an accent anymore. You know, maybe I could set you two up, a nice little date, you could play a cello duet or something! Very handsome man, Hector."

And every church activity has been the same. Yeah...this is gonna be fun.