Charlie Perkins

Last Wednesday we had a really cool event at the Brigham Campus but I waited until today when I got the pictures back to talk about it on my blog. We had a luncheon to honor a couple of people who have been very great supporters of Utah State University Brigham City. This picture is of me talking to Charlie Perkins. He and his late wife Rae have set up a significant trust fund to establish scholarships for students here. This will provide scholarships for many students for many years to come. I spent some time talking to Mr Perkins who spoke very fondly about his wife and gave me some marriage advise. As a recipient of scholarships that have helped me immensely, I know how much his generosity will be appreciated and how much of a difference it will make in the lives of many.
The other benefactors that were honored at this luncheon were Selma and her late husband Milton P Miller from New York. They have given the old Kmart building to the Utah State University Brigham Campus. Mrs. Miller was not able to travel to the event, but we watched a video tape of a speech where she told the story about how she decided to donate the building. An amazing gesture considering that they were not even from Utah.
In honor of their generosity, one of the buildings on the Brigham Campus has been named the Milton P. Miller Classroom Center and the student lounge has been named the Charles and Rae Perkins lounge.

Best and Worst

(This is our cat Maui, he has nothing to do with what I am posting on this entry, I just wanted to add a picture and I liked this one.)

The idea for this entry came to me while driving home from school last night at 10:30. I was thinking about what I love about school, but to be fair and balanced I will also tell you what I don't love.
So, the WORST for me is-
Forgetting stuff.
Maybe it's because I am taking 16 credits, or maybe I would have this problem with only 3 credits, who knows. I feel like I am continually trying to cram so much stuff into my head that no matter how hard I try and how much I am interested in what I am learning, a lot of it must be leaking out somewhere. Instead of remember every cool little detail of what I learned, I often feel like I am only left with general ideas...the moral to the story so to speak.
And the BEST part is-
Having a class that I love so much that even at 10:30 at night when I've been sitting in lectures for over 5 hours, I don't want it to end.
I love it when the lecture or discussion is on a topic that fascinates me and gets the wheels turning. I start making connections in my mind with things from this lecture, from other classes, and from my life and it's EXCITING! I have been so impressed with this instructor that I would take another class just because he was teaching it. (don't worry I'm not trying to influence my grade, I'm pretty sure he doesn't follow my blog) I have to admit that I have honestly enjoyed most of the classes that I've taken in the last 3 years, in fact I can only think of one class that I have really, truly, hated. This semester I look forward to Monday nights.

Movie Day

Saturday we had a movie day at a local theater for a student government sponsored activity. Students had to pick up a ticket on campus in advance and then come to the theater between 4:00 and 5:00 on Saturday. Jeremy, our vice president, and I were at Walker Cinemas to greet students. Because our student body includes both traditional students who would like a date night and non-traditional students with families, we couldn't decide on one movie that we thought everyone would enjoy so we just let them pick any movie that started during that hour and we paid for their tickets. Walker cinemas was great and even gave our students a half price deal on a popcorn and drink combo. We asked students to show their school spirit by wearing their Aggie Blue and it was a lot of fun to see entire families coming in all wearing Aggie T-shirts! We combined our activity with a service project by having our students bring donations of canned food for the local food pantry. We ended up with just over a hundred people attending, and I think the activity was a success.

Spring Break

You've heard tales of how much fun spring break can be...you go to Florida, Mexico, or even Las Vegas. So, where did I spend my spring break?
In my attic.

No this was not a punishment for some misdeed. I live in a perpetual remodeling project. Our home is old and needs a lot of work, but it was my husband's grandparents' home and it has a great yard and a lot of potential. Unfortunately it doesn't have a lot of storage space, and we have a lot of stuff. So we decided to create storage space in our attic. We installed a drop down ladder, added insulation to the attic and did a little building. We are not done yet, but here are a couple of pictures of the project.

This picture is what the attic looked like before we got started and the next is a part that is almost done.

Crime spree

Remember that old excuse,"the dog ate my homework?"
well, I have proof...
I've been trying to get ahead on my reading over spring break. Yesterday I had a textbook out, I was sitting on the couch reading and put it down for a few minutes to fold some laundry and look what happened.

The evidence:
















The criminal:
BEWARE!
I know she looks sweet and innocent, but she's actually a repeat offender. She has been caught red-handed eating slippers, shoes, a bottle of lotion, a roll of toilet paper, and numerous other items. She has also been convicted of completely destroying two plastic dog food bowls and a small stuffed monkey.

It's downhill from here!

Well, we've passed the half-way point in the semester. I have taken 6 exams so far, only 9 more to go. Considering that I have 4 psychology classes I was amazed and pleased to find out that I don't have to write a single research paper this semester. I did have one presentation; it was for my cognitive psychology class. It was due last Wednesday and I am happy to have it over with, but mainly because now I don't have to work on preparing for it any more. I actually kind of like doing presentations...that is, IF I feel like I know the material I need to present.
The timing of spring break is great, right in the middle of the semester. I think it gives everyone a much needed break and time to get caught up if you're behind on anything. I have a million things I want to do during spring break. I have kids with doctor and dentist appointments and I hope to get some work done on my house, get ahead on the reading for my classes, and maybe even get together with some of my friends.