Spirit Week Summer 2008

This past week was BYUI Spirit Week! This is is a tradition that happens every semester. It begins with the torch lighting ceremony

During the week there are many activities that happen ... a 5k run, a service project, a formal dance, a rodeo, the 50 lap relay race and spirit rally, and to wrap it all up a concert and fireworks show!! This year the concert was 1964 - The Tribute "the world's greatest" Beatles tribute band...that is what it said according to their official website. They have been together for 24 years ... and I must say I was not alive during "Beatlemania" but from listening to Beatles CD's and seeing video footage of their shows, I really felt like I was at a real Beatles concert. They had the outfits and the shaggy hair to boost! But one of the grooviest things about this concert is that it was Em's first concert ever!

Here are a few videos from the concert...

BYUI Traditions

At BYUI it is a tradition to dine at Big Judd's ... nothing like greasy burgers, fries, good friends and memories! (Andra outside Big Judd's) The original Big Judd's is located in Archer, Idaho...a VERY small town about 10 miles from Rexburg. There are mainly farms there, a few houses and a General Store that is also the US Post Office...like I said VERY small town.
We arrived there around 6 o'clock and there was actually empty parking spots! That didn't last for long....as soon as we were out of the car, five more cars pulled up packed full of BYUI students! Luckily we were seated and food ordered before the large group that came in after us were seated. I love the buzz at Big Judd's ... friends laughing, talking, couples on dates, families out for dinner....and the cute waiter didn't hurt! Andra and I shared the bacon cheese burger...I know it looks messy...it was and oh so delicious! We went here for dinner before heading to the 1964 ...the Tribute (they are a Beatles tribute band) concert that wrapped up spirit week.

With nothing to do on a Friday night, I was happy to receive a call from KJ to see if I had had dinner yet, which I hadn't. So we headed off to Idaho Falls and with both of us hungry and having no clue what we wanted, we decided to drive around to see if we could find somewhere to stop that sounded good enough to eat at. We were driving down Yellowstone Highway and low and behold we came across this...The North Hiway Cafe...with a lot of cars outside. We figured this was a good sign so we pulled in. Well, walking in we got a good laugh at the decor....all the seats were covered with this horrid fabric with horses and cowboys on it. However, the menu was actually pretty cool...full of delicious sounding burgers and home cooked food. I settled on the chicken fried steak with homemade mashed potatoes and KJ originally went with the beef stroganoff however the cook said it was no longer on the menu...well take it off then! So she went with the North Mile Hi Burger....two beef patties (or substitute one for a sausage patty), ham, swiss and American cheese and a fried egg....not to mention the tomato, lettuce and pickles. It was huge and a heart attack on a bun! KJ almost finished it...here is a picture of her first bite! She could barely fit it in her mouth!

I love a rainbow

So after all the rain we have received in the past few weeks (and with more rain in the forecast), I was so excited to see a rainbow in the dark cloudy sky on Friday. It made me happy :)

This one is for Marte...

So as I am driving around the Rexburg, I have noticed all the strange animals that people have. Well, maybe they aren't completely strange but you don't see too many down by my house in Mississippi. Here are a few I have seen...

First....Stupid Llamas
Is there really a point to having one of these? They spit, they smell, and they are not cute. But I think this one is kinda cool hanging out with a very wooly sheep.
Second...An Elk Farm??
So driving down the road I see a farm and it had animals on it that didn't look like cows or horses. I get a bit closer and low and behold they are elk! Kinda cool.The last thing I saw on this drive was a billy goat tied to a post. Interesting.

An adventure or two!

Ok, so I know this is titled 'the great adventures of me' and I haven't posted any yet so...here are some....

About two weeks ago, my friend Undrea and I had the opportunity to go to one of our teacher's houses and learn how to milk cows! First I must say I really wasn't sure what I was getting myself into but I went ready to learn :) So, I learned that cows are really really big, and very very dirty. But I am now an expert cow milker! My favorite part was milking the baby cow...he was only 2 days old and had to be milked with a bottle! We also got to feed some older calfs out of bucket...my calf did great, but Undrea's calf was a head butter and well milk went flying everywhere! Undrea and the calf were covered, the floor was covered and I had some one me...but the barn cats LOVED it!! My least favorite part was violating the cows when cleaning their utters before hooking them up to the milker machine.

Adventure two...

Well, it is Memorial Day weekend and I was stuck in Rexburg...partly due to homework and partly due to gas prices (it is $3.87 now!). Saturday I was tired of being in the apartment so I called Emily and we headed to Idaho Falls to check out the farmers market...not very impressive yet - I don't think the farmers have had enough warm weather for anything to grow yet! We will try again later next month. So with that disappointment... we decided to go to the IF zoo. Now this is no New Orleans or San Diego zoo, but it is better than the Hattiesburg zoo. However it was still pretty cool. We did hear the tigers fighting but they were hiding when we got to their exhibit. And there were two hairy camels that were shedding...kinda gross looking.

After the zoo we had a great burger in this hole in the wall place. We then started back to Rexburg but took the back way. It started pouring rain, which turned into slush. We came to a fork in the road where we decided to go left and ended up in 'famous' Victor Idaho. I am not sure why they are famous but that is what the sign said. Well, at this point we were less than 30 minutes from Jackson (Hole), Wyoming so we decided to head over them mountain. Towards the top of the pass, we encountered snow! It's the end of May...there is no need for anymore of that! Well, we walked around rainy Jackson where people were dressed like cowboys and like they were from the 1800's...very interesting. Then they were shooting guns in the town square. We started heading back to good ol Rexburg and as we were heading up the pass the snow was falling harder....and there was a couple of inches on the road! Not cool. I ended up skidding to the side of the road and the highway patrol man asked me if I knew what I was doing and I told him 'No, I am from Mississippi...we don't have snow or mountains there!' He just laughed at me and told me to put it in first and go slow down the mountain. So I did. With the weather as crazy as it has been, I am not going back until July! Here are some pics from that adventure!

Rain Rain Go Away...

I am getting a little tired of the rain here in Rexburg. I know they are in a drought in this area but goodness after all the snow this winter I would think they had enough. Now rain, rain and more rain...it is supposed to rain everyday until Saturday! On top of the raining it is Memorial Day and I am stuck inside. Blah. Oh well, I guess I will attempt to get a head on homework...that could be the silver lining to the rain clouds in the sky.

First one...

Ok, so I finally did it. I got a blog page.