The Beginning of the End

So this week Finals have begun!  The last week of both Brady and my time at BYU!  Brady asked me the other day if it felt like graduating from high school.  NO.  It feels so much better!  And with the excitement ahead in our lives, finishing our classes here finally feels like the next step is coming . . . because it is!  In three months and one week we will be driving off to Houston!  "Texas, woo hoo baby!"

So this week has been the preparation for the storm of finals.  In my business communications class, we got an assignment for the week to find someone more stressed then we are, and then do something for them.  My opportunity came when I brought donuts to my english class on wednesday for participation points.  But, everyone had brought something.  Cereal. Donuts. Muffins. Milk. Orange Juice. Bananas. And more. So I left class with my dozen (minus one) of donuts. 

I went into the Benson (chemistry building) and the idea hit, spread the love with donuts.  I first saw Brady and his friends, and each of his friends took a donut.  The smile on their faces easily showed that I was decreasing their stress.  And then I continued.

The girl sitting on the floor with books sprawled all across her.  Here's your donut.  Good luck!

The guy walking past with his headphones blaring.  He didn't hear me.  No donut.

Three guys studying on the floor.  Sweat dripping down their foreheads.  Fingers shaking from stress.  The donuts calmed them.  They probably got 100% on their test.

And the guy watching me give out donuts from the OChem study lab.  I asked him if he wanted one, and he quickly put his head back down, said no and continued studying.  I came back 20 minutes later with only one donut left.  I was about to give it to someone else when he turned around again.  He was hungry.  Finally.  I decreased his stress with the donut.

So, believe it or not.  Donuts decrease stress.  And they make your fingers sticky.  I wouldn't know because I didn't eat one.  But I had to pick a couple up when my english teacher knocked some over onto a chair . . . I'm sure they were still clean.

April Showers

With the end of classes coming next week and finals looming, it was nice to take a break Friday and Saturday.  We went to the temple and dinner with the darling Lauren and Mike Reid on Friday, and after we played games at our place and Cam and Lindsey Lamb came over.  It is nice having friends so close to hang out with.  Brady and I lost every game we played.  It was a disappointing night for the Heaps.

Today should have been sunny.  It is April 9!  But, I guess "April Showers..."

I started the morning celebrating at my friend Sara's bridal shower.  So many memories piled into different faces, I loved it.  

Then Brady and I took on the cold and went to the BYU Spring Game.  We of course just went to support Matt Edwards, Brady's lifelong best friend.  It was the game to catch because Matt pretty much took his team on to win.  And we witnessed his first autograph for a fan!  

It's our last week as students at BYU, and we're loving it!

Thought of the Day

Laughter is a form of internal jogging. It moves your internal organs around. It enhances respiration. It is an igniter of great expectations.

—Norman Cousins, Head First

Girls Night & Conference

I love when I get to spend time with my sisters and my mom.  Last night I got double lucky and Brady's mom came with us too while the boys went to priesthood.  It is fun to get together and talk, eat, and last night we made earrings.  The greatest and cutest craft.  They are cheap and, we all thought, super cute.  

Today I woke up early and decided to make something for breakfast with the meager ingredients in our apartment.   Scones.  And they were delicious.  By the time conference started, scones were coming and our mouths were in heaven.  Love it.

Fabulous weekend followed by another amazing day and spiritual enlightenment.  With only two weeks left in school, we are in the last push.  In two weeks, we will be two college graduates.  Life is good.

Hunger Games

This week Brady started reading The Hunger Games.  We started talking about it the other day and Brady said he wishes we had hunger games to go participate in.  I got really excited and expressed my ideas a little too quickly.

"Yes!  I would kill you so quick!"

Brady looked at me blankly.

"I was going to say I would save you like Peeta saves Katniss!" he said. (and yes, those are their names in case you haven't read.  They start to become normal)

Hmmm.  I guess that is the more appropriate answer.  

But our house has been full of reading lately.  Because he was reading them I decided to read the third one finally.  I am reminded at how addicting these books are.  There is something special about getting lost in a book.  Time flies.  

Brady has now almost finished all of the books also.  Three books in one week for the man who says he doesn't read.  We need to find more books like this.

On the Look

Yesterday I ate lunch with Brady in the chemistry lab while he worked.  There was one guy in there who made us laugh every five minutes.  Each girl that came in the room, the kid somehow managed to start a conversation, and ask her if she is married.  Every girl. (Except me, the wife sitting next to the married T.A.)  The best time he asked was a red head girl who walked in halfway through me being there.  The kid got up five minutes after she sat down and acted like he was getting something out of his backpack.  He said hi, asked about chemistry, and after a maximum of 3 introductory questions the kid asks, "So, I ask this to all my friends, at least here at BYU, but are you married?"  Then he goes on telling her she looks really young and he can't believe she is married, and how cool that is.  Hmmm.  

Next.

The table of girls he was sitting at.  The first girl was married also.  So he continues... "Oh, cool!  How is that?"  Poor guy.  Next girl.  Single.  "Single?  You say that like you're dating someone though, you must be dating someone."  

"Nope"

Brady said this happens every day.  Really though, this kid was genuine in his questions and his conversations.  His mind is just a little too much on marriage and finding out for everyone.  Someone's got to teach him the ring check.  Good luck kid.

Husband or Sister?

In class yesterday, we discussed solving problems in a business setting.  Shayne, the great professor, gave an example of him and his wife.  He comes home and she tells him smoke came out of her car.  Instantly, Shayne starts thinking of what the problem is, and before his wife finishes her story, he states the problem and the solution:  the radiator!  But his wife is crying saying that Shayne is not listening.  Is he?

Now, maybe a funny story.  That's our class.  But this story brought up advice that was given to Brady in front of me before we got married.  It's called the Husband or Sister Rule.  The advice giver told Brady, when Jane is telling you something, ask her, should I be your husband, or your sister?  The husband solves the problem.  The sister just listens.

Really, this helps.  A man's instinct is to solve a problem.  A girl just wants to talk.  When you put these things together, you get the situation between Shayne and his wife.

So in class, we learned that in business settings, be the husband!  Solve the problem!

But outside of those settings, maybe keep asking the question...

Husband?  Or Sister?