what we've been driven to in the Lemmons household.

Scene: a girl in her twenties sits on the couch surrounded by textbooks while a boy in his twenties does the dishes, vacuums, and sweeps.

Girl: Aaaaah FINALS SUCK!! I am so stressed!! AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!

Radio: Plays "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon


Boy: I clean everything you want, I clean everything you need.
I clean everything inside our house that you want to be clean
I clean all the right things, at exactly the right time
But it means nothing to you and I don't know why!

Welcome to the Lemmons household.

finals.

Finals is a rather ugly time of year, don't you think?

We are supposed to be full of Christmas cheer, singing carols and rejoicing in the birth of the Savior, giving gifts of love to people we know and some that we don't. Instead we languish in dark windowless libraries, trying in vain to cram our little neurons with information from the last four months that was bypassed the first time around by blithe excursions on Pinterest and surreptitious Netflix watching.

My finals week is actually much lighter this semester than it has been in the past. I don't know if nursing is easier than neuroscience or if the University of Utah is easier than BYU, but my class load isn't nearly as heavy as usual. While I'm still really busy, most of the issues come with traveling, not studying. However, that dark, nasty finals feeling is still surrounding me, obscuring the fact that in four days I will be in California and in six, on a ship to Mexico; obscuring the fact that three weeks of blissful freedom {in which I am going to try very, VERY hard not to bring an NCLEX study guide into my vacation time} are ahead of me. I really think that finals week contains the longest, dreariest days of the year.

Bear in mind, I am being facetious. I know I am very lucky that finals are my biggest problem right now. That, and the fact that everywhere in Provo is out of mistletoe, and December 12th and mistletoe combine for a very special tradition for Scott and my relationship and I am sad that we can't have it this year. But I digress.


However, despite the fact that finals cannot be skipped, only pushed through and endured and beaten, there are a few solutions to the finals woes. Disclaimer: Solutions are in no way proven to positively affect G.P.A.


1. Blogging. Obviously. I am at this very moment experiencing the effects of this cheap and effective therapy.

2. Pinterest, which goes hand in hand with blogging. What better way to revive your dead spirit than by being creative {or envying those that are?}

3. Eating Nutella out of the jar with a spoon. Anyone who chooses to consume alcohol or abuse illegal drugs is clearly missing a key point -- Nutella is a much quicker route to happiness. The onset of a Nutella high is only 0.27 seconds. Also, it is cheaper, not to mention legal.

4. Spend time in a beautiful place and get a dose of eternal perspective while you're at it. Today, I left campus a few minutes early for some surreptitious Christmas-ing at the Gateway Mall. I then had to make the journey back to my bus stop on the opposite end of Temple Square by 3:15 to catch my bus home. As I walked by the Salt Lake Temple in the almost completely abandoned Temple Square, I felt so peaceful and so lucky. When I looked at the Nativity scene in the reflecting pool I loved the juxtaposition of the Savior, who gave us the opportunity to receive eternal life, and the Temple, that more or less opens the door to let us through. I was grateful that in a few mundane moments of my busy day, I had the opportunity to walk in a quiet place and remember what eternity is about -- not my tests and whether or not I get an A or an A --, not whether I have the time to do all the little traditions for Christmas that are meaningful, but not essential the way Christ is.

{Image Source}

5. Take a deep breath, grit your teeth, and get back to work. It won't be fun, but you can do it. And there is light at the end of the tunnel {but have the fortitude to leave your textbooks at home, no matter how much you think you can get ahead!} {Okay, that last bit was mostly for me.}

smarty pants.

This person works very, very hard. Can you tell by all those papers on his lap (if you look closely, they are covered with nasty things like physics and chemistry)? Can you tell by the determined expression in his eyes?

He has been working hard for the last six years -- two of those years were spent as a missionary, learning how to work hard and dedicate himself to something higher than himself day in and day out -- and the other four were spent doing what you see him doing in this picture -- studying like crazy, as well as shadowing dentists, doing service, and teaching Italian.

After all of that hard work, he has gotten his reward -- acceptances at Midwestern University and Roseman University!

Midwestern is one of Scott's top schools, with a unique curriculum and a great reputation. Some of our friends will be there next year, which would be fun if we end up going there. Scott likes the fact that it is in Arizona, aka never being cold again, and I am kind of curious to see what it is like because it is located in the city I was born in {but have no memories of}.

Roseman is in Utah. We probably won't be going there, although it would have been nice if only because we would be closer to family. However, I feel obligated to brag because I know that Scott won't -- his interviewer personally went to the admissions committee and told them by name that he wanted Scott to be at their school.

Does this mean that we will be living in Arizona? We don't know yet, because Scott has one more interview, at University of California - San Francisco, which is near his family and also his dad's alma mater. We should know whether he is accepted to that school by the end of January, and then we will be able to make our permanent choice.

I am so proud of Scott for working so hard. He has worked for this for years, and he has definitely earned it! I should know, because I took all of the same classes {although I didn't do as well as he did}! We will keep you posted on where we decide to go. We have to put down a deposit {about $1000 - ouch!} before the UCSF interview, so that interview will have to be pretty stellar to change our minds, but we will see. I am excited for what the next four years have in store for us, and happy to have it a little more narrowed down. 

Thankfulness: Days 14-20

I really am grateful, even though I didn't write about it all week. It's been a little crazy!

Day 14: I am grateful that our car works. I've put it through a lot, and sometimes I am surprised that it is still creaking its way down the highway. But without it, I would have to spend four hours on the bus for a half hour assignment at the hospital on Mondays.

Day 15: I am grateful to be healthy. Spending time all day with miserable patients has really helped me to appreciate health and ability. I know that I may not always have it, so I want to spend my time trying to be as healthy as possible and taking advantage of the body I've been given, that so far walks, talks, sees, hears, breathes, and moves pretty well.

Day 16: I am grateful that I had a great nurse preceptor on this day. They can be few and far between, and I really needed one that day... it had been a rough last few couple of clinicals.

Day 17: I am grateful I can sleep on the bus. Because sometimes, I just really need it.

Day 18: I am grateful for DAYS OFF.

Day 19: I am grateful for my lovely grandmother and great-grandmother {happy birthday}

Day 20: I am grateful that I got to spend time with my little sister yesterday.

non sequitur

Okay world, I know I owe you 5-6 blog posts worth of thankfulness, but can I just have a brief moment to go on about nothing?

I really want to do something drastic with my hair. Like maybe dye it a strange color it has never been before (and/or cutting bangs)

or chopping it off

or maybe just learning to style it like this person:

Yup, that's my little sister. Think she'll teach me how?


Or, I could just practice {a lot} and learn to do it like this:

Here's the problems:
1. No money to maintain a color job
2. My hair doesn't like being made to be in bangs {too wispy and staticky}
3. I have never spent more than 15 minutes on my hair in the morning in my life
4. My arms get tired when I start to French braid my hair
5. The hubs would disown me if it was short anyways

Any suggestions for my restless hair syndrome?

Thankfulness: Old friends and eternal friends.

Day 12: On Friday, I had the chance to hang out with my best friends from freshman year. I'm not sure if it was our first taste of freedom, being at college, or just the fact that we were all so AWESOME, but we bonded that year and I love the chance to see any of them whenever I can. Seeing almost ALL of them in one place was even better (plus love interests/spouses/children, ya know). Old friends. <3

Day 13: I have been very overwhelmed with life this weekend. I'm not sure if it is just that breaking point in the semester or something else, but I feel like my classes are too heavy, that I'll never be a good nurse, and that I just want to curl up on the couch and watch TV until my brain is blank. But my husband noticed that I was feeling down, cleaned the house, sat next to me and told me all of the reasons he thought I would be good at nursing and how I can get over feeling like I won't do well enough. There is definitely a good reason I picked him to spend eternity with. :) My eternal friend. <3

Thankfulness -- Armed Services. (And wishes)

Day 11: I am grateful to the men and women who fight and have fought, often unremembered, to keep my country and my family safe.

And I am grateful that Scott is going to go take care of their teeth. :)

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Also, I am grateful for epic wishes. I saved up two for today. I've made the first but not the second yet. It is superstitious but I feel like they are going to come true because I saved them just for today.