New Month's Resolution

One of my faults is that I am too easily persuaded. I have known this about myself for a long time now. I mean, sure, I can probably be stubborn too. But for the most part, in matters that thankfully aren't usually too serious, I will leisurely toss my opinion here or there depending on, well... nothing at all. In my Bioethics class, we have weekly discussions about certain ethical issues. I find that by the end of that hour-and-a-half, my mind has changed nearly a hundred times! It is exhausting! Someone will make an argument that I agree with, only to find I suddenly disagree with it after the next comment. Ohh, he's right.... wait.. no, no, he's a fool, but she is definitely right... and so on and so on and 50 more so ons! Usually I leave class feeling lost and confused about who I am and what I'm doing with my life. Okay, I guess I probably wouldn't go that far. But today I started thinking, is this really a bad thing? And I decided, yes, yes it is. So that's a bummer, and I guess I'll be working on it.

okay one more thing...

loooove these boys.

BYU and the Honor Code

(the last of my 3 blog posts for today, found below)

Finally, I need to say that I love the BYU honor code. No matter how many people diss it and laugh at it, I know that it is an inspired standard of living. And I am right about this one, so sorry, but all the haters out there are dead wrong. Their opinions are absolutely meaningless and it's dumb to argue about it because I am 100% right and they are 100% wrong. haha. That's what I'd like to tell them anyway. But really, I love the honor code. I love it with all my heart. It's not lame and it's not archaic and it's not unforgiving and it's not unrealistic. It's inspired. It's exactly what we need. It's unique and it's intense and it's challenging, but it is right and good and worth it every time. For me, talking about BYU is like sharing my testimony. I want to tell everyone about it but I don't want to talk about it to people who won't appreciate it. Seriously, I love this place so much. It's exactly where I've always wanted to be and it's exactly where I'm supposed to be. I feel like every struggle I've had in my life has been for the purpose of making BYU feel even better when I finally got here. (haha okay I sound like I'm talking about the Celestial Kingdom or something. my adversity and afflictions were but a moment... ha) Anyway. There's something really special about knowing that everything my school stands for is backed by the First Presidency. I am overwhelmed at the quality of people that I have met from being here. Everyone has so much to offer. Everyone is just so... remarkable, in the literal sense of the word. I know it's easy for people to hate on Utah, but I am a lot happier here. I grew up in a great place with so many amazing people, but I struggled, especially in high school, probably more than a lot of people would think. Not sure how I got on this topic. To sum up, I am very blessed. And I will defend BYU whenever I have to because it is a good place, and BYU has taught me to stand up for good things.

Basketball

Players like Jimmer are the reason I love basketball. Basketball used to take up a lot of my life. It was the first thing I ever felt really passionate about. I used to wake up early on the summer mornings and dribble up and down my driveway because in junior high, Mr. Blackmer challenged me to become as good of a dribbler as Logan Mendenhall (then the high school league's best player) and I was determined to live up to that challenge. I played every single day of the summers, even if it was windy and my shots would never drop. I seriously cared about basketball so much. I have pages in my journal about how much I loved it and what players I looked up to and things I needed to work on. In high school, I had surgery that put me out for a year, but then decided to not play after that. It was a really hard decision but it was a right decision because I discovered a lot of other things about myself that I don't think I would've otherwise. Mainly, I discovered that basketball wasn't the most important thing, which is how I had previously been treating it. I think one of the biggest blessings is that I put more effort into my schoolwork. I developed a motto that the better grades I got, the farther away from Magrath I could get. And even though I had a bad attitude and that all seems really dumb now, it's a principle that I still think about. The better grades I get, the farther I'll go. It seems common sense but a lot of people don't actually realize it. Anyway, back to what I was initially talking about. I ended up forgetting about basketball for quite a while. I'd shoot around here and there but usually it would be a few months between here and there. The point of this story is that I have played more basketball this year than I have since grade 10. And honestly, it's because of the BYU Cougars basketball team. Especially Jimmer. He reminds me exactly why I love basketball. Because basketball is a really really good time. It is SO. Fun. I craved playing for the first time in a long time this year. I still know what's important and I don't by any means play very regularly, but seriously. I love basketball. I just needed a reminder.

Jimmer.

Jimmer. Yesterday's game was very emotional for many reasons. The main reason being it was Jimmer's last game in the Marriott Center. It was the last time he walked out with his long sleeved warm-up tucked in his big shorts (it was always so cute how much dorkier than MJ he looked.) It was the last time he waved to the crowd with that adorable grin. It was the last time he flexed his muscles when he knew I was taking a picture of him. It was the last time he pulled up from a non-pull-up-able distance and drained a three right on the defender's head (in the Marriott Center, that is. I'm sure that'll continue to happen over the next month). Jimmer is amazing. I can honestly say that he has been the main source of my happiness over the past 4 months.

I took some huge time creeper pictures at the game, and I'm pretty happy about it. Jimmer embracing Coach Rose after getting subbed out for the last time? Got it. What about when he gave Brandon Davies a big bear hug after the game? Well of course. With his brother TJ? Ya, that too. When he finally noticed his cheerleader girlfriend among the throng of people on the court? Yes, their embrace is now on my computer.

Next post will be dedicated to Jimmer as well.