MLK Weekend

Since I'm stuck here at my apartment because I'm sick (I think it's a stomach virus), I decided to blog about my 3-day weekend. It was really fun!!!

FRIDAY

Hung out at the mall for a while, then played Guitar Hero 4 (World Tour) the rest of the night - it was great!! It's very similar to Rock Band, but different too. I like the guitars better, and the drum set is a little harder, but that makes it more fun too. My only complaint is that there should be more recognizable songs. There are tons of songs, but few that I know or have heard of.

SATURDAY

I got some errands done, and that night, I went to Trafalga with the coolest married couple I know - Brittany and Michael! It had been so long since I'd seen them, so it was really fun! I loved it!

SUNDAY

Went to church and basically relaxed. I also went to Scott and Katie's for dinner and games.

MONDAY

We had the day off from school, of course, so I went to Tucano's (so good!) with a few friends and played some more Guitar Hero.

So that's about it! Now, I'm sitting in my apartment since I can't go to class because I'm sick. Hopefully this is just one of those 24-hr bugs or something.

Hope everyone else is doing well!!

My Skis

This weekend, I finally got my skis! It took them a few days to put the bindings on them and everything, but I picked them up on Friday night, and I can't wait to try them out!!!

Here are the actual skis...

And here's my favorite part - my cute boots!

Thanks, Mom and Dad!!!

Weekend in Altonah/First trip to Sundance

*WEEKEND IN ALTONAH*

This weekend, I took a few friends up to my grandparents' house in Altonah, UT. It was absolutely gorgeous up there, not only with the snow-capped mountains, but also using the telescope to see the moon (the brightest it will be all year) close up! We had a tour of the Car Museum and shop, hiked up Yellowstone, took some lovely pictures (not on my camera, so I don't have any to post, sorry!), made a bon fire, and got to relax and eat delicious food my grandpa made for us :) It was really fun, and I'm excited to plan another trip to go snowmobiling in a few weeks or so.

*FIRST TRIP TO SUNDANCE*

I probably should've made this 2 posts, but I didn't have enough to say for each to make it into 2, so I'm melding them into one. Anyways, I made my first trip to Sundace this morning for some snowboarding!!! I woke up arond 7.30, got my board all put together (putting on the bindings), and got to Sundance around 9 AM. It was amazing because that early, there are hardly any people there other than the employees! Especially since today is Monday. This was lucky for me too because my first run was kind of a struggle, first because it was the first one of the season, and second because I'm used to skiing. Luckily, it came back to me pretty quickly, so I only fell 2 or 3 times on the last run :) I'm really excited to continue with snowboarding and get better, as well as buy my skis (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and get back to that too. Definitely a pro of having so much snow around :)

Now it's time to get back to classes.....

Start of the semester update

Well, as you can probably infer from my previous post, I made it safely back to Utah! :) Classes started on Monday, and I'm pretty excited about how the semester is turning out. I'm taking some interesting classes along with some more accounting prerequisites because I apply for the program in April. My schedule is still fairly light (14 credits), so I hope to focus on the prerequisites to ensure entry to the program. My classes are:

1) Principles of Statistics - Not an accounting prerequisite, but a business school prerequisite. I took Psychological Statistics over the summer, so hopefully this class will cover the same concepts.
2) Psychology of Gender - This is one of my electives for my Psychology minor. My friend took it about a year ago and loved it, so I'm giving it a try. It should be interesting to see how they teach it in a BYU setting.
3) Communication in Organizational Settings (Business Writing) - One of my accounting prerequisites. I'm kind of nervous since I haven't taken a writing class since high school, but I hear it's not too difficult.
4) Intro to Management Information Systems - My last accounting prerequisite. I'm also a little nervous about this one due to my lack of knowledge about computers, but also excited to learn more about them! I hear it's pretty straightforward.
5) Food Preparation in the Home - Yes, I'm taking a cooking class! This is my fun class for the semester, and I'm really excited about it :)

Also, this weekend, me and a few friends are going to visit my grandparents in Altonah! We were supposed to go snowmobiling, but the weather isn't right for it (there's an avalanche warning), so we're just going to visit this time, and then go again in a few weeks or so when the weather is better for snowmobiling. It'll be nice to get away for a few days and visit with them.

That's about it! :)

Flying: Then and Now

On Sunday, I flew back to Utah Valley for yet another semester here at the Y. Usually my experiences with flying are usually the same, but this time I noticed how different it has become over the years. Just a few things that have changed since my first few flights...

THEN....
If you had a flight during a meal time, it was customary for flights to provide meals. I remember flying to Hawaii in 1995 for my oldest brother's graduation trip, and we were given breakfast along with other various snacks throughout the flight free of additional charge.

NOW....
Meals are usually not an option for most flights. However, if you are on an extensively lengthy flight, they may offer you a meal for a fee. Some airlines even charge for snacks!

THEN...
Most airlines allowed passengers to check 2 luggage bags for free. There was also no weight limit.

NOW...
Most airlines are now beginning to charge for at least a 2nd checked bag, if not the first as well. There is also a usually a strict weight limit of 50 lbs. You'd think they'd let a few pounds slide, but I've been forced to remove luggage due to as little as 2 pounds of additional weight.

THEN...
Movies were offered on nearly all flights over 2 hours in length free of charge, except if you needed to buy a headset/headphones which cost around $2.

NOW...
Most airlines now require a fee for movies as well, usually from $5 - $8, regardless of whether you already have a headset/headphones or not.

Lots of other changes have occurred, such as the recent liquid requirements for carry-on bags, and I'm sure many more details that I've missed. These are just a few of the changes I noticed on my last flight. Not to say there haven't been positive changes as well! The internet has made booking flights and even checking in much easier for passengers. My only concern with some of the changes is the need for the airlines to begin charging customers for each and every aspect of the flight (bags, entertainment, food, etc.) I realize many of the airlines suffered due to increasing gas prices, but have they not begun to drop again? I no longer see a need for airlines to be adding fees to each and every step of the process.