busy busy busy.

So I have no time to update this thing because I am always so dang busy. But school is hard. It's definitley an adjustment to high school. I never really appreciated the fact high school was so easy, but I wish I did. Maybe I would've enjoyed high school more that way? haha.. I don't know! University is good though. I think i'll start liking it once I get the hang of the work schedule and how to manage my time. I wrote my first psyc exam yesterday and got an 88% on it, so I was pretty happy. I was sad that still isn't considered an A though... oh well. I also think I am dropping astronomy (because i seriously think I will fail that class so..) and going to pick up another religion class in the 2nd term of semester 1. It will be a WAY long religion class... from 2:30 - 4:40 every tues/thurs but then again, it's only from november 2-december 16 so. It's not too bad. Way better to pick up that class, get a good grade and credit for it, then suffer through astronomy and fail anyways. You know? So i think this is the smartest option for me right now! O also! It was my birthday last week, and the girls here on campus sure did make my day fabulous. :) I love them all very much. Anyways. I gotta go do my laundry. There's a quick update. This place is beautiful though, I'm really enjoying the constant sunshine.

first week of classes.

So! I had my first week of classes. Well actually not technically... only 3 days.. but it's friday so it's the end of the week. WELL THEY HAVE BEEN STRESSFUL. i mean good. but stressful! so wednesday happened, and i went to all my classes and they were fine. I had religion and english. i have the best religion teacher ever. he has such a sweet spirit to him and i think he'll be really good. then english. omg. english. will. be. the. death. of me. so hahah first day of class... my cell phone goes off. AWKWARD. i was like oops. i am so sorry. but yeah i dont know... there is just SO much stuff we need to do and blah its overwhelming. and like for essays we have to use MLA format or something... i have no clue what that even is. freak. i dont know. hopefully its alright. there's only like 25 kids in it though so that's good. then okay. then my academic advisor enrolled me into a math class that i didn't have to be in... and i was ticked because i had to figure that out on my own... 2 DAYS BEFORE THE DEADLINE CAME TO SCHEDULE CHANGES. frick. like if you got a 22 or higher on the math section of your ACT then the math classes i were taking got waived. you know what i mean? so anyway i read that on the GE paper for BYU-H and i was like... i should look into that (because i hated that math class after the first day and my instructor was nuts)... so low and behold i got a high enough score on my ACT.... so... i go to the academic office (which is SO busy because there has been problem with tons of people's classes just suddenly dropping by themselves.. that happened to me too) so anyway. she is all like. "oh thats weird. well yeah you can drop it." so then i drop my math class BUT THEN i don't have enough credit...... but... the only other GE i could add to my schedule was astronomy... and astronomy was at 3:40-4:40 .... and that was the time that my psyc class was.... but the school accepted 400 more students then they had room for... so of course ALL the classes are FULL. so i had to switch my psyc class to 12:10-1:10... but that class was full! so basically i was SOL. SO what i had to do was run over to some small weird building... find the psyc professor and ask for permission to be added into his 12:10 class.. and the class was already 2 people over its limit. so i had to run across campus to find him, and when i got there i was basically in tears haha and so he added me. then i tried to add classes but then i had a hold on my account because i had to go pay for my bed sheets that i bought the first day i got here. so then i had to run BACK to the financial office and pay that then go back and wait in line for the acadmic people then i was racing against time because the astronomy class had been booked for like so long but then there were 2 spots open. and lots of people had been trying to get into it. so finally i got my paper signed and by the time that was done there was only 1 spot left in astronomy. AND I GOT IT. thank goodness. so yeah ANYWAY i honestly had been running around campus for like 3 hours straight. im not kidding by the end of it i had mud all up my legs and stuff. it was ridiculous. so anyway. it worked out and my schedule totally changed. now i have:

monday:

9:50 - 10:50 - Religion

2:30 - 3:30 - English

3:40 - 4:40 - Astronomy

tuesday:

9:20 - 10:50 - Bio

12:10 - 1:40 - Psyc

wednesday:

9:50 - 10:50 - Religion

2:30 - 3:30 - English

3:40 - 4:40 : Astronomy

thursday:

9:20 - 10:50 - Religion

12:10 - 1:40 - Psyc

friday:

2:30 - 3:30 - English

3:40 - 4:40 - Astronomy

so it's alright. it works out good. it's just everything is so overwhelming... i never thought i'd say it... but... i miss high school! ha. like you don't realize it but they baby you so much! here its like SO much work for EACH class and its like they don't remind you about any due dates you just have to be on top of everything so much and remember everything yourself and to balance all those classes/due dates is insane. like there is so much work. i just. blah. and to keep up in class is crazy so much reading so much to write down MY GOODNESS i hope i dont flunk out. i feel so stressed i want to cry. but. hopefully i pass. i dont know. we'll see. but after the crazy day on thursday me and tiffany went to temple beach and just cooled off and chilled on the beach. it was awesome. the ocean was warm and it was just a good time to chill. i liked it. then today i just had english and astronomy. astronomy is super interesting just the instructor talks so fast holy. but its really interesting and im in it with rachel.. a girl from my hale so thats good, we can study together and stuff! and i'm in english with mary.. so we can struggle through it together. haha. but yeah. thats bascially the updates for now. things are just nuts. and we are suppose to be at some dance hahaha but we're all on our computers. but its like 9:20 and i have to be up by 5:30 tomorrow because there is some circle island tour tomorrow that me and mary are going to and the bus is leaving at like 7 or 7:30 am . like. that is so early. then we are gone til like 7 pm that night. so its ALL day. its crazy. then i know im gonna be tired when we get home ha then i have all the homework. my gosh. OH and there's so many rules here its kinda weird getting use to. i mean i understand rules but these seem unnessacary and it makes me angry at times. lol. oh well. whatevs. but like for serious we had this hale meeting one night and for an hour they just talked to us about rules. and since i've been here they've been talking about rules. FREAK! oh wellllllllllllll. oh and its funny. you do something wrong and they fine you. tahahahaha. classic. oh well i better just not mess up. i've already gotten in trouble twice for the dress code. oooooops. but thats the update. but i love my hale buddies. mary, rachel, aroha, abish, lauren, saydi, haley.. they're all super chill and we're pretty tight. haha me and rach like all the same shows so we've been watching the bacheolor pad and vampire diaries on my laptop... :) so yeah. it's good. miss little things about home though. anyways. thats that.

last day before classes.

So today was really sweet! Except this morning me and mary were planning on going to the devotional at 7:30 am... like we had really good intentions and set our alarms wicked early and everything but we ended up sleeping in! we didn't mean to. we woke up at 5:30 am but then just fell asleep after our alarm went off. oops. we'll have to work on that. Anyway. So we just got ready at 7:15 am when we woke up.. oops.. and then went for breakfast. They were serving eggs, toast, and hashbrowns. I have the chocolate milk every morning in the caf for breakfast. but i think its no ordinary choco milk. it is like GOOD. so yeah. then we went to the book store and i got the rest of my textbooks that i needed and such. and then!!! WE WENT TO THE BEACH! we drove about 20 minutes to get to sunset beach.. and it's so beautiful. the water is so clear and blue and gorgeous and i just loved it. It was really the first time since we've been here that we could just lay down and relax. it was really nice and i really enjoyed it. We didn't have much time though cause today was SO busy. we stayed at the beach for about an hour. Did i get any color though? Nope. But then we went to the PCC introduction and tour. and I think I fell in love just a bit with the polynesian cultural center. It is honestly unreal. There i tried poi (or however you spell it). It's some hawaiin thing i guess and it is weird tasting. Its made from some sort of mashed up plant. and its like grey in color and its like a paste. It doesn't really have any flavour just tastes like paste that you use to make paper mache or something lol it was weird. can't say i'd eat that by choice ever. But then we went to the Tahiti show.. so cool. Those women sure know how to SHAKE THEIR HIPS. like its insane how they can move their body. I don't even understand how its possible. But they're super good. So that was cool to watch their traditional dance type stuff. And we went to the Samoan one.. the guys there were soo funny, i loved it. They had us clapping and such and then they were climbing trees and he showed us how to start a fire and he peeled, cracked, and juiced a coconut all by hand and such. It was actually really cool. And we went to the new zealand one. It was so neat. I LOVE watching their haka. It is absolutely unreal. It's so intreging, i just love it! they have such powerful voices and their eyes get so big! its just cool. And all day you're constantly just learning about different cultures. It was neat. I really liked it. and the PCC is so beautiful and well kept. Like its gorgeous to just walk around in. I could've stayed there all day. I'm excited to go back with my family. Then we went to the luau and had supper and watched some more performers then we went to the PCC night show. It was good it was just all kinda the same thing. Dancing and stuff. The people here are very talented though and its so cool learning about all these cultures. Like you watch these people perform and you feel like you're back in the days where cities don't exist. you feel like there is no modern world its just you're on an island. lol i dont know how to explain it, that probably doesn't make sense but. to me it does and i like it. haha. it was a neat opportunity and it was super cheap for BYU-H students so i'm grateful for that. So that's how my day went today! it was so good. it takes alot out of you cause you're constantly running around doing stuff but it was a great way to end the summer. First day of classes tomorrow. I am so nervous. But excited at the same time. I think i'm ready to learn again. (i say that now. wait until tomorrow after class, haha). I only have religion, english, and psyc tomorrow though so it shouldn't be too bad. Anyway i'll fill you in on that tomorrow..
night!

-JP

orientation... will it ever end??

So today seemed sooooo long!!! We are still finishing up new student orientation stuff.. so we were up at 7 and then in the morning we had to sit in on 30 minutes of listening to people talk/welcome us to BYU-H. Then we had to go to "one stop student services" where we got an introduction into campus life and such and then since mary and i are considered "international students" we had to fill out some more documentation stuff. After that was done we ate some lunch with tiff... then shogo came and ate with us too! He wrote his english proficiency test today.. poor boy! But yep. Then I got 2 of my books. My text books are actually pretty cheap. My religion one is only 5$, my english one is only 30$, my psyc one is 70$, and my bio one is 100$. And i don't even need one for math. so that's sweet i guess. We also got our student ID cards today! I actually like my picture, I think it turned out decently. Well decent enough for an ID card. haha. Then! omg we had to sit in on this "Official Welcome" for like 2 and a half hours... so boring. lol. I was glad to get out of there. It was all about the honor code and what not then just like academic stuff and how to work things online. Oh well it was good to go to I suppose. Everytime we start a class though or a session its so funny because the speaker will go... "Aloha BYU-H students!" Then all the students yell back.... "ALOHA!!!!" Hahaha its awesome. But yeah! So then we went to go get cell phones at this tiny little cell phone place in Laie. Honestly that store was smaller than my dorm. It was tiny. And we had to wait in line for sooooooo long. like 2+ hours. We got there at like 4:30 we didn't get out til like 8. But there's only 1 person working there right and they service like the whole town. So yeah. BUT! I signed up with the company mobi... it's strictly for the Hawaiian islands only.. but its perfect for what I need. It's not a contract or anything so I just pre-pay every month 50$ and then I can text unlimited to Canada and the US and then I have unlimited calling to anywhere in the US. So it's super sweet and I'm stoked about it. My phone is just a little cheap motorolla but its all i need. So i am so stoked to finally have a phone again! AND THEN! oh my!! They have such amazing shaved ice here!! like the stuf back home does NOT even compare. I ordered a small.. but a small was freaking the size of my head. It was huge. I got strawberry coloada, pine apple, and pina coloda flavors. Then they put icecream at the bottom of it so then when you get to the bottom its like icecream mixed with melted shaved ice and you mix it all together and its like frothy and delicious. It was so good. Mary got what was called a "halo" so they topped hers with condensed milk and whipped cream. It's so amazing. That is what I ate for supper. And I want one everyday. But that would definitley help contribute to this stupid "freshman 15." Anyway. Today was very busy. And a lot of waiting in lines and stuff. So much standing and waiting. It was tiring. But it's stuff that needs to get done. So it's just more things off the checklist! Tomorrow should be a pretty full day as well... I'll be sure to update. :)
Goodnight!
-Jennnnnnnny.

first few days in hawaii!

Okay! So my super awesome roommate mary started a blog for Hawaii, and all my friends want updates so I thought it'd be a good idea to start one. Then I can kind of keep everyone updated all at once! So i'll try to keep this updated while I'm here. When I got off that plane and into Hawaii I almost died from the heat wave. It was unreal. And the humidity here is insaneeeeeeeeeee. Like. It's almost pointless to do your makeup cause it melts right off your face haha and when you walk outside your hair instantly goes... POOF. but oh well! hopefully my body adapts to it haha. Oh also.. speaking of heat.... walk into our hale (dorm) room...... INSANE. No air conditioning so the heat just collects in here and its crazy.. so we bought little fans haha they help a little. Still so hott though. We made a couple trips to walmart which is about 50 minutes away from Laie. Got everything we need to just settle in here. It's gorgeous here though. Like. The ocean- so gorgeous. Looks just like a postcard. There's some amazing amazing beaches along the north shore- it's insane. Like the one at turtle bay was so nice, and sunset beach... oh my goodness! I just couldn't believe how beautiful they were. I'm looking forward to having a beach day! And then the mountains are absolutely unreal here. So lush and then the clouds come in right over top of the mountains... like so close.. it looks like the clouds are sitting on the mountains and the mountain tops are poking through. It just looks misty and pretty. Also- me and mary lucked out with our dorms. They're having such a problem with housing here its insane, so me and mary got a big room. They squished some people into a single room so they have like 1/2 the furniture and stuff and there's 2 people living in there. just crazy. I love our dorm though! Also i'm on the meal plan and i find the caf food to be pretty decent. And the Laie Hawaii temple is very pretty, i'd say its about 2-3 blocks away from campus. And I can walk to the beach from campus, it's probably like 10 minutes. I want to buy a bike so badly to get around this place. It'd be so nice. So we'll see how that goes. But there's my update so far!!! Nothing huge has happened because we have just been unpacking, shopping, and getting settled in. I had my first sunday here today too.... me and mary are in the 18th ward. It was alright. We just didn't know where to go or anything haha so hopefully that gets better. But there were people from all over... like.... austrailia, japan, south korea, ghana, samoa, sweden, maui, the U.S, Canada, like.... just people from everywhere. It's crazy. It's super cool though! I love all the different cultures. Oh and also on saturday night when we were driving back from the city to Laie... like all along the coast the whole way back the polynesian people were just having big picnics, get togethers, parties.... and like so many people were fishing!! they were all just out by the ocean. Some were swimming. It just seemed so care free and fun. Haha it was neat to see. But. There you have it. Another busy day ahead of me tomorrow.. early morning too. I've been getting up early every morning since i've been here though. It gets so bright and sunny out so early haha. But it's good for me. Anyway. Hope this didn't bore you too much. Until next time! :)

-Jennnnnnny.