In my American Novel class today we discussed Bakhtin's idea of the romance novel. One of the most crucial elements of a romance is the fact that the main characters don't grow. They don't grow physically, they don't grow emotionally, and they don't grow mentally. Of course they face challenges, and usually these challenges provide the plot, but they never change. Take James Bond for example. Timeless. Awesome. But he's no smarter today than he was 50 years ago. And he hasn't aged at all.
A lot of romance stories begin with a relationship, but the challenges these characters overcome don't help them grow as people. Their lives exist to prove that their love can survive, but it doesn't develop. It just withstands.
This idea stayed with me because as much as I enjoy a good romance, Bakhtin has helped me figure out why most romance novels leave something wanting. I think sometimes I get caught up in just surviving life. Not that my life is incredibly difficult; just the usual daily struggles, school, homework, getting sick, etc. can get me into the rut of just surviving.
But you know what? I don't want to just survive life. I'm here to grow and learn and become the best person I can be. I'm not a 2-dimensional character in a book. I'm real. Life is real. I want to come away from hard things having learned how to grow and develop into who I want to be. Who knows? Maybe these hard things are meant to shape me into the person I want to be.
So, I believe we left off with school starting. That happened. It was great. It really was for me, actually. I like my schedule this semester. I think Dave is going to struggle again feeling like sometimes his classes waste his time. Hopefully he'll be able to keep working on some coding and refining those skills, though, which will be great.
Dave started back at work too and he has been running a lot of the projects right now as the main manager's been out of the office for a while. The manager just got back and I think Dave is officially now managing all the part-time employees. He's good at managing and he likes working with all the students on their projects, so that's good. I've been a little sick this past week, so he's already behind in his classes because he's been taking care of me instead of doing his homework like he should...
I started my last semester and I am way overwhelmed. I am taking 18 credits, which I've done before and that's fine, but I have 4 English classes...which is a lot. Just to give you a perspective: To Read--30 Young Adult books in one class, 7 Shakespeare plays and films in my senior course, 9 American Novels in my American Novel class (go figure), and then about 60 pages a night in a Norton anthology filled with Myths, Legends, and Folktales. Unfortunately, all of these classes require report of reading except my Myths class, so obviously, that one gets the cut. (Hence why I am blogging during this class every week 0:) ) So far, I've actually kept up pretty well.
I've read a total of 7 books already this semester which I think is more than I've ever read in an entire semester (I don't have the best track record for keeping up with reading...). Fortunately, I like the books this semester! Who doesn't love young adult literature? It's so easy and quick. Shakespeare was a little daunting at first, but I signed up to be in the first group presentation and so my big project for the semester is already over and the professor is phenomenal (and scary). The American Novel class I love simply because I love American Literature. I would study American Lit over British Lit any day (fun fact!). And then with the English classes I am also taking a Joseph Smith class from Susan Black. She's supposed to be amazing, and while her memory is mind blowing, it is slightly difficult to stay awake with her "talk at you" style. Maybe it'll grow on me?
Then sewing (you should already know all about the ridiculousness of this class...) and my research! I wouldn't have embarked on another semester of this research except that I submitted an ORCA grant, so if I actually get the 1500 dollars, I need to finish the project to keep it. We should find out soon about that, cross your fingers!
So...in other happenings, Dave got to go climbing over the 3-day weekend while I worked on my project and he had a blast. We saw Phantom last night at BYU which I absolutely loved. Delaney was amazing as Christine--a regular Bernadette Peters. We got a blender. (We love smoothies!!) We tried Bombey House and loved it. We had Emma and Skyler over for dinner on Sunday. And I'm teaching the primary the descant to "I am a Child of God" and the girls' enthusiasm is awesome!
I think that sums our lives up for now, it's been fun. Oh, and Utah is attempting to single-handedly sabotage our semester with it's negative degree weather and frozen rain...Much more of this and it might succeed...
So...I'm taking a sewing class this semester. It's fun. Except it's crazy, too. In retrospect, I probably should have taken this class when I wasn't going to succumb to extreme senioritis. Apparently, the 6 hours of class a week isn't enough and we are expected to spend an extra 10 hours in the sewing lab on week nights to finish our projects. Now, these projects aren't exciting in the least. We are working on pajama pants right now (takes me back to my 9 year-old days at JoAnn's sewing classes with Annie...), which is great, but in addition to the pants, we have about 3 little "samples" a week. These are little 6x6 squares of simple fabric where we practice different stitches, seam finishes, hems, surging, etc.
I think it's great that we're learning these techniques and skills, but really? My whole project isn't going to be ruined if one of my stitches is uneven...They're like nazis around here! I think someone told the School of Family Life that they needed to make their grading standards harder (apparently there were too many A's going out), and I'm feeling the repercussions. Thankfully I have my own sewing machine at home so I get a little bit of freedom without the crazy sophomore TA's breathing down my back.
Sorry, I'm sitting in my Myths, Legend, and Folktales class right now.
The dragon seemed an accurate representation of my TAs.
Don't get me wrong; I loved my cooking class last semester, and I'm grateful BYU offers these classes to us, but I just feel like I've already seen enough tears and frustration in the first 2 weeks to know that some of these girls are going to drop the class and never pick up a needle and thread again--at least not for a long time. I think because the people who take this beginning class are the types who are easily overwhelmed by crafty things, there's gotta be a better way to teach us...
Sorry, totally random rant, I apologize for that. I really am liking sewing, just wish the class was less stressful.
By the time my parents arrived on Monday morning, we had successfully finished our bathroom tile makeover and we were in love with it. There was no grout as the mortar had to dry still. The few tiles at the end that we had to cut with a little tile cutter Dave's dad let us borrow were full of chips, but at least the whole floor was covered. :) And grout hides everything, right?
Turns out it actually does...lucky us :)
My family was quite impressed and surprised by our new fancy tile (fancy meaning...from Lowe's and eyeballed to make sure we had straight lines when we laid it...), and we were stoked by their christmas present to us, new vanities!! Our old vanities were extremely well worn...and to be frank...disgusting. I think my dad called it "Schmutzy"? Something like that...something he wouldn't want to live with.
In addition to the bathroom changes, we also painted the family room and kitchen walls and put crown molding up. My dad is quite the handyman, so he helped teach Dave and I how to do the crown ourselves so we can finish in the rest of the house, and my sisters, Jim, my mom, and I worked on painting the main rooms and the ceilings. Now we have soothing cool beige eggshell (sp?) walls, and white flat ceilings and we are in love with it. The crown is my favorite though, besides our bathroom. It just makes everything look so nice. I can't wait until we can officially finish everything so there are no traces of half-caulked or half-painted walls left.
I couldn't believe how selflessly my family gave up their Christmas Breaks to help us with our house. Emma and Corinne died a few days in, but before they quit, they helped a ton! Mom and Dad never quit, which I don't understand since Mom was sick at the time. I was just overwhelmed with gratitude for my family and their help. We also celebrated a second Christmas with my family this week one night which was a blast. Thanks Mom and Dad and Christi for hosting!
So everyone left after a fun night of Noodles and Co. and Australia (a super long, and super great movie we all love). We were sad to see them go, but stressed about getting our house back to functionality before the semester started. We spent the weekend recovering with sleep from the week of hard labor and started Monday classes refreshed and excited (not really...).
Thanks everyone for your help with the house! It looks beautiful! HOpefully when I get out of class I can put pictures up. (Yes, already blogging during the second day of class...) I'm a senior, cut me some slack...
Oh...and...Last night I found out I am getting an INTERVIEW on February 4th with BYU's Marriage and Family Therapy Master's Program!!!!! I'm so relieved and excited! Pray for me and wish me luck!
I feel bad that I have such a hard time blogging. I really need to get better or start scrapbooking or something at least. Maybe I'll make it a new year's resolution? So the past month or so we have been to both sides of the country, celebrated Christmas together, started a new semester in school, and refurbished our house. To say we've been busy would be a pretty big understatement...
It started with Annie and Russ' wedding. It was so beautiful!! On December 15th, Dave and I had the privilege of attending their temple sealing and there were lots of happy tears and hugs after they were legally and lawfully married :) That same night we went to the RSM bell tower for their reception and it was so gorgeous you wouldn't have even known you were in the bell tower. Complete with a carving station for dinner, an amazing candy table, a dance floor, outside London-esque lamp-post lights brought inside, and about 20 trees lining the walls. It felt like we were outside, without the uncomfortableness of the cold air ;) They choreographed their first dance and it was just stunning. They looked so beautiful and happy and care-free. It was such a great day. For Dave and I to be in the exact same temple celebrating another wedding just 4 months later was a pretty neat experience. I must say, it was better to attend the wedding than be the bride. Just a whole lot less stress. And way more time to talk to people as well.
Right after the wedding we came back to Utah for a few days (just enough time for a couple doctor's appts and packing). Dave worked and I got ready for New Jersey. We flew to New Jersey to spend Christmas with the Rackhams and it was a blast! I thought it'd be heart-breaking to be away from my family for the first time for Christmas, but Dave's parents were so thoughtful and even went caroling one of the days for me! They integrated some of my family's traditions with theirs and aside from one minor night of homesickness, New Jersey was a relaxing, rejuvenating, joyful, and happy week. We were sad to leave a week later.
When we arrived back home we were ready to immediately start fixing up our house. Since we officially became the owners we have been dying to repaint and fix up the bathroom at the very least. We spent most of Friday night and Saturday day planning our time and making decisions on what colors of paint as well as tile patterns. We made a total of 5-6 trips to Lowe's I believe on Saturday because we didn't realize:
1) How different paint looks from a sample on it's paper to a wall. From morning to afternoon to night on the walls.
2) How involved replacing the tile floor in a tiny bathroom actually is.
3) How important Safety Goggles, kneepads, and gloves are to being successful...
4) How hard it is to cut tile yourself...
I think we ended up with about 20 paint samples on the wall and about 7 different opinions before everyone let me stick with the one I finally chose. We had developed an intimate relationship with the nice old man who walked us through everything about tile from grout colors, to sealer, to size of tiles, to what consistency to mix the mortar to to make the tiles stick, to cutting our tiles for us before Lowe's was about to close and I'm sure laughing at our confidence that we had planned and measured the pattern accurately to know ahead of time what exact cuts we needed...
