new blog

check out my new blog at

http://bryceandaub.blogspot.com/

YEAH!

I officially got a new job!!! Now I can be a real chemist!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love to see the temple

A lot of times, I take for granted the fact that I am living about a minute's drive away from the Provo temple. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord and the Lord's work is done inside. I also bear witness that it is work. I remember my Dad planning all our vacations in Europe around visiting the temple. I have been to all 10 temples in Europe and done baptisms in 9 of them (the Helsinki temple was just opening so we only went to the open house). Everytime we went, the temple workers looked so overjoyed that we were there to do some names in their temple..I guess they didn't get a lot of people visiting to do baptisms. My sisters and I got a lot of practice doing the work and going to the temple in other countries and speaking different languages. We would do many names for them because they just didn't get a lot of opportunity to do this kind of service. I'm so grateful that I could learn the value of that work that is done in the house of the Lord. This last thursday was ward temple day, and I'm grateful that I could have the opportunity to attend the temple, as busy as it might have been, to receive strength and peace from the Lord, and to rest from my homework and other stressful things.

I love to see the temple. I'm going there some day to feel the holy spirit, to listen, and to pray. For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty. I'll prepare myself while I am young: This is my sacred duty.(Erika, Amy, me, and Nicole at the Madrid, Spain temple)

47 I feel so cool!

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a Praying Mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Been to the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre

20. Slept on a train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo's David

41. Sung Karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visted Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. kissed in the rain

53. played in the mud

54. gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. visited the great wall of China

57. started a business

58. taken a martial arts class

59. visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. sold girl scout cookies

62. gone whale watching

63. got flowers for no reason

64. donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. gone sky diving

66.visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. flown in a helicopter

69. saved a favorite childhood toy

70. visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Tied a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a Bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Visited Italy

TGIF. seriously.

This week has been super long. seriously. and it was only 4 days long if you count Monday being off school, even though all I did was homework. School finally got rolling for me and I was caught up in all of my assignments, lab reports, practicing, and reading. I got to talk and get more acquainted with a lot of my professors though so I was grateful for that. I haven't fallen asleep in any classes so far, which is a miracle!, although I came pretty close in Living Prophets the other night.

So I get to take Lloyd K. Newell's class. He is the narrator for Music and the Spoken Word (for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), and is also a great teacher here at the Y. He has a great memory and is able to remember facts about each one of his students. Angie pointed out to me that he remembered that she was sick the first day, and that we were roommates, and he even asked me how my date went, which was totally awesome. Now imagine how cool it is knowing that he is personable with us, how close he must be to all the apostles and prophets of the church. He must know so many things about them

and I'm grateful that I could learn so much from his insights. The other day in class, he shared a quote by Elder Nelson:

"Don't use question marks. Use exclamation points and just do it. The blessings will flow!"

I really like that perspective and I think I have to add it to my new years resolutions list to help me get things done faster and in a better mood, without complaining.

btw, I really had a long, tiring day today and was really happy when a boy called to ask me out. I guess God is looking out for me.

Also, I'm so grateful for my sister and her sweet connection to the Canon Center. So many times she has saved me and probably doesn't even know how important it was to me in helping me make it through the day! Well I made it through this week by an outpouring of God's tender mercies, and now get to enjoy a birthday party for one of my roommates. If there's one thing I learned this week it's this:

If it's important to me, then it's important to my Heavenly Father.

I love my sister!

Back to School 2010

The other day it hit me just how right chemistry is for me. I went to my first orchestra rehearsal and was potentially seated last in the first violin section. After feeling a little sorry for myself about how bad I was at the violin (I mean really I was struggling to keep up with the sightreading <--and that just doesn't happen to me), I realized that it was really a blessing in disguise. I couldn't have done music in college some things just aren't for everyone. I do love chemistry and sometimes I forget that. Chemistry works and it makes sense. It follows through and helps you understand why things work the way they do. At the same time it also amazes you, it makes you think when something doesn't go as planned, and it pushes you to be better. When I am cramming to finish a homework set due Friday morning or trying to figure out my nmr, it is easy to take for granted all the things that help me get through the day. But being able to help someone with there chem 468 homework when you've never even taken the class before, is priceless. I shouldn't forget the feeling I get when I walk of lab knowing that my reaction worked! I guess when you get excited about an article like this: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ar800150g, it kind of makes you a dork, but who wouldn't get excited about new research on laser induced photothermal nanoparticle cancer therapy? This semester I am going to try to get into a research group with a professor on campus so I am pretty excited about that, but I still am working in the Inorganic Stockroom, which is the greatest job ever.

So here's some stats for the new year:

13.5 credits (<-- lowest number of hours I've ever had)

461 Physical Chemistry

464/465 Physical Chemistry Lab

391 Advanced Chemical Writing

333 Living Prophets with Lloyd K. Newell!!

321 University Orchestra

115 Beginning Organ

111 Beginning Basketball

20 hour work week

$1.00 pay raise

11 AM - the time of my first class MWF!!!! (first time to ever happen in college. I have always had 8AM classes M-F.)

1/12/10 first date of the year to see STOMP

3: 3 score of my first intramural soccer game (S Club 7 vs. H1N1)

9-15-29 Combo for my gym locker so I can go work out more often instead of running in the cold.

1 Nephi 4:1 My scripture for the new year. The second Yes! matters the most!

A lot = the number of my New Years Goals.

April 21 Last day of finals!

The first day of class in PChem, my teacher asked, "Is anyone in here wearing a diamond?"

(silence) Looking around the room at the 5 of us girls in the class, "No?!"

What can he expect? We're chemistry majors. and proud of it!

6 hours and 45 minutes

My new record for the testing center...joy.

Goodbye OChem lab! I will miss my nmr, white solid, and purple gloves. :(

"For the next 2 hours, time to show her my chemical powers"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P91Zt2p4118

Now I just have one more final and then I will be done with Physics forever too!

Physics Lab TA: Scarves are for…..

Me: …Girls?

Physics: Well I was going to say gays. Same thing.

Me: I hate physics. Last physics test ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's hope it doesn't take as long.

Our jokes aren't like your jokes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0FULHGwPkw

Physical Chemistry teacher: Oh but they are!

Christmas Cookies

The awesomest people in the whole world just came by while I was here camped out at the library and gave me a cookie. I don't even care that it was burnt to a crisp and made extremely loud crunching noises as I scarfed it down. Best cookie I ever ate! It makes me want to be productive so I can go home and be with the people I love. Christmas is so soon!

Happy Belated Birthday Erika!

Yesterday was my sister's birthday and I forgot to give her a shoutout! She's so excited to be 17! Can't you tell?

Seriously Erika is a great sister. She lets me have the big bed at night and talks to me in her sleep so I don't get scared. She would rather set her alarm at 6:30 in the morning to go get breakfast than sleep in on her birthday and instead of relaxing would rather go play an intense game of basketball. She braids my hair and gets people to play frisbee with me! She'll always laugh with me no matter how silly I'm being, which makes me very happy and grateful to have her for a sister. She'll wait in line for the portapotty with me for 30 min. And when it's really hot out she'll take me skinny dipping and snorkeling!

Don't get too old you can't do this with me:

Erika -- I love you! Have fun being 17!
Will you be my sister forever?

Minus one toenail

Recently, I just pulled my toenail off after stubbing it on a wall playing basketball. It probably took the whole night to get the whole thing out. Then, the next day I heard horror stories that since I pulled it out past the cuticle, it would never grow back. I certainly hope not! I want all ten toenails to be there when I die. The video is bad quality but kind of cool to see. Of course I still played basketball the very next day. A couple people even stepped on it but no worries it didn't hurt at all!

Facebook

Ok it's cool that parents can have a facebook so that they can keep in touch with their friends and family and even secretly stalk their kids, but do we really need to what you got at the grocery store or that after you dropped the kids off at school, you cleaned all the toilets?
Seriously what is up with that?

Hannah Montana's Real Secret

It's my sister, Amy Hoffmeier!
I made her do this for my birthday at the mall, too bad we didn't have the music.

One Hott Summer

What girls will do for money...
Amy eating a habanero!

Happy Birthday Patrick!

watch the second video first!

mix 103 for your work day

My life is not complete until I hear John Mayer on the radio.

"Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you're really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64-color box, though I've got a few missing. It's ok though, because I've got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8-color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation.. so when I meet someone who's an 8-color type.. I'm like, 'Hey girl, magenta!' and she's like, 'Oh, you mean purple!' and she goes off on her purple thing, and I'm like, 'No- I want magenta!'"

- John Mayer

So I work for an appraisal business and we listen to the same station everyday. No doubt there will always be a little "why georgia why" "waiting on the world to change" for us. But I'm afraid that I'm becoming too green and not glowing lime. I need some variety!

It's a good thing that I get to do all sorts of actual work. I get to go take pictures of houses, check utilities, answer phones, make appointments, type up appraisal reports (all in very nice cars) and on the other side mow the lawn, take the kids to soccer practice, feed the baby, etc. It's all very entertaining and I am excited to go to work everyday and see what it is that I get hooked up with (my bosses favorite phrase I am catching on to). I'm also glad that I am finally learning all the lingo and actually know what is going on now. Sometimes the work is tiring but I need the moolah. And what's really cool is that I should be getting hooked up with a Kings Dominion Summer Pass to take the kids to once school gets out. How cool would that be to get paid to go to an amusement park?!

big ball of sweat

Today I went running for an hour in the great humid state of Maryland. Once you're done doing that, this is what happens......

You leave an outline on the sidewalk when you collapse afterwards.
Your shirt is soaking wet and it feels like you wet your pants.
Your not allowed to sit on the couches or your mom will yell at you.
You can't cross your legs, they just slide off each other.
You feel like its a hundred degrees in your house when you walk in.
You take a shower but no amount of towels can dry you off.
You straighten your hair and it is curly in the next 10 minutes.
You play DDR and you slip on the mat because your feet are sweaty!

Nonetheless I felt so good today after finally running like I said I would every day this summer even though I've almost been home a month. It's finally starting to be humid though, while before it was bearable. It finally feels like home. And it's so good to be back. =D

Zach and Cody

Yes, I finally made it back to Maryland and am now living the suite life at home for the rest of the summer. I can take joy in the fact that while my sisters agonize over AP tests, I am over that, and I have already finished 4 years of seminary. Today, I went to a YSA devotional. mistake.

I can't munch and mingle without my mom!

My sister gave up her extra bed for me, my Dad pays for my gas, my Mom will make my lunch, and best of all, I didn't have to search around for a job and go to all those interviews.

This is the suite life...

Please don't tell me the odds

I am really not looking forward to my OChem final, especially since I am barely riding on a B in the class. I have not been able to focus like I thought I would be able to yesterday and today.
No thanks to warm weather, j-dogs, applebeer bees, storage units, blogging, marley and me, and the Biggest Loser, roommates packing, shorts and flip flops, etc.
Dang it, Provo has failed me! Why couldn't it snow just one more time this april so I could stay inside and be focused and study.
So I guess tonight will be an all-nighter with my textbook. -- the one that I bought new for $186 and they're switching for a newer edition next year, so I can't sell it back. It's been a long year and we've really bonded, all 1175 pages of it that I have dutifully read and been enlightened by.
Please help me make it through Smith!

When I grow up, I want to be a rock star.

This weekend after finals me and my roommate wanted to play, but what to play? We didn't know, so we made a whole list of stuff to do:
- listen to Keith Urban (since I'm going to a Keith Urban concert in September!)
- have an eating contest outside
- hike the Y at midnight
- go swimming at our old house
- ice blocking
- Dollar Theater
- go to Utah Lake and have a mud fight
- rent a tandem bike
- spy on Kristen
- pack our Christmas tree...finally
- put couch on balcony and watch a movie
- bring laptop to Provo canyon and watch a movie
- play hide and go seek in Walmart
- play frisbee
- prank Diane
- go running to temple
- make a smoothie
- get ice cream
- die hair
Great list, huh? Well it was kind of late and we were on a budget. We decided to dress up like rock stars and play rock band and take pictures. Then afterwards, we grated up some leftover chalk and had our own Holi Festival of Colors, since none of us could go this year. It was a good last Saturday night in Provo. Is it so vain of us that the way we decided to have fun was to take pictures of ourselves?
Unfortunately, I think I have disowned my hope to be a famous rock star. Too much hairspray. Seriously, it took me 3 shampoos to get it all out.