I'm Not Your Canvas! Oh wait...

Sometimes college students find themselves doing jobs you never thought you would do. I, for example, am now an art model. I sit in front of people and then they draw me. I inspire art.

I've gone two sessions, and I only get a few jobs a month. It is quite the interesting job. My first session, I sat in the middle with two other models while the teacher gave a minny lesson. I thought it was so fun to listen to the teacher, and I even learned a few things about drawing faces.

All of a sudden I look over a a guy is staring at me. It freaked me out a little, until I realized that he was drawing me! I had to remind myself that this wasn't creepy, it was my job.

Being a model is pretty easy, I just sit there. That is it. Of course I don't know how good it is for my self esteem. During the breaks I went around and looked at what they were drawing. Some were very nice, but there were some that made me cringe. I thought, "Is that really what I look like?"

On Wednesday, I sat in the chair, holding still, for the guy who was drawing me, as I listened to the teacher. He was trying to get his students to understand the planes on a face, and how they really do apply. I knew I was in trouble, when he paused mid sentence, and asked, "Do you have to do anything after this class? I'm sure it will wash off."

Before I knew it, he hand charcoal in hand and was drawing the planes of my face, on my face. I felt ridiculous, but hey, all in the name of art right?

I sat there feeling a bit like a coloring book page. On the other hand I really do think it helped the students, because as i went around to the students easels during breaks, i wasn't ashamed of my face. The pictures actually looked like me.

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Today is Eldon's 22th birthday. Wow, Eldon your getting up there in life. I don't I've spent a birthday with him for about three years now. So instead of throwing him an awesome surprise party, I thought I'd blog about him.

I love my big brother. He is the best brother I could have asked for. I remember one time when I was ten, I decided to brush my hair with a round brush. I loved the little flip that would happen, so I kept swirling my hair in the brush... I soon realized that my hair was more of a rat's nest then when I started and the brush was stuck. I mean nothing short of a weed whacker would get it out.

I was freaking out, and went to my family for help. After they all finished laughing at me, Eldon sat down and started pulling my hair out of the brush, strand by strand. I think when sat there for at least half an hour, maybe more.

I think some of my favorite memories were when we would drive around in the car together. We would usually be going to mutual or to the library, but the drives were so fun. I remember fighting with him. our discussions got pretty heated, and it didn't matter what it was about. We would each stand at opposite ends of an issue and fight.

I don't think anyone else really understood that we were having so much fun. It was kind of like playing together. I miss those drives. Even the one where Eldon made me read a quantum physics book to him. All I remember, was a lot of weird symbols and something about heat.

We'll Deborah and I decided to through him a little birthday party, in Idaho. I talked to him on Sunday he said all we should do is stick a candle in a Twinkie and blow it out. So we did.

I know you won't get this Eldon, but we were having major Gilmore Girls flashbacks.

I thought the Twinkie cake looked pretty good.

If you want to see the footage of us lighting the cake, go to Deborah's blog. Whenever she gets around to it.

We were both ready to dig in. Then we realized Twinkies are disgusting.

Really very gross.

Well no matter the cake, We love you Eldon, and wish you a happy birthday.

Love, Tressa and Deborah.

I don't Think I'm in Maryland Anymore

I've had this weird feeling all week. I finally figured out what it is. I am suffering from culture shock. Being at BYUI is such a culture shock. I don't mean being out west again, I mean being at BYUI. It is a very different place, and I'm just beginning to understand.


I guess culture shock is the one thing that didn't expect to feel. I knew I'd be a little homesick, shy and nervous, but I didn't expect to feel totally out of my usual bubble. I'm mean Mormonism is my culture. I thought I would adjust just fine,because everyone hear is Mormon! I am just so used to meeting someone and mentally preparing myself to defend my beliefs and standards. I don't have to do that here.

It is so nice. You can talk to people with more ease, because we are all coming from the same foundation. People are still really different, but there is a sort of safety at this school.

The hardest thing to get used to, is having the gospel talked about freely in classes. My first Science lesson discussed how science and religion can coexist. In math my teachers favorite saying is, "Math is the language with which God wrote the universe."

In every class we are asked a question and with out fail, some one will somehow bring up the gospel. My first instinct is to cringe. I think, "You can't bring up the gospel. They'll mock you out of class." Then the teacher will approve the comment and continue on. It is hard to get used to after a lifetime of defending my religion in class.

The spirit is definitely hear on campus. All of the buildings are dedicated, and it's so easy to walk out of one of them feeling up lifted, thinking about how your testimony has been strengthened by that class. It is a beautiful experience, and I love it.

You're Going to Idaho! It's Cold Up There.

When I would tell people that I was going to Idaho, they would always say, "You're going to Idaho. Its cold up there." It was that or some variation of that. I never could come up with an adequate response. Usually it was something like, "Yep." They would walk away impressed with my college vocabulary.

Now, don't get me wrong, I new it was cold. I asked Santa for sweaters this year for Christmas. I had listened to my sister's stories of freezing nose hairs. I was prepared for the winter weather, we call "the cold."

After spending a week in Idaho, I'll say this. I am seriously reconsidering appreciation for the snow. In high school, it meant a day of. In college it means two extra pairs of socks before I go out in the morning.

This is a picture of me and some of my neighbors last week. We just came from the Stadium Sing. At 9pm, on Sundays a bunch of people gather together and sing church hymns. At first it's really nice. Then by the second song I realized my legs were really cold. By the forth song I realized I wasn't sure if I had toes anymore. Everyone cheered at the last song. It meant we could go home and get out of the cold. It took me an hour to stop shivering.

I did hear something at the stadium sing that I really liked. I overheard a boy saying that you only fall once a semester. You have to slip once, but you only slip once. I thought, "Score, I can handle once."

The next morning I headed out bright and early to look for a job. As a I was cutting through a parking lot I was walking on a patch of fresh beautiful snow. Oh that deceptive snow. It was covering very slick ice, and down I went.

After quickly looking around to make sure no one saw, I began to get up. "Well," I thought, "At least I took my fall with limited embarrassment." I finally got up right. I took one more step. After landing once again on my back side, I realized that there are liars at BYUI.

Happy Winter Weather everybody..

Home Sweet Home

In the words of Fanny Brice from the movie Funny Girl, "Oh what a day I had today." It has been a very long two days. I am not about to review every detail, just the highlights.

Deborah, Sarah, Lix and I decided to leave for Rexburg at 6am, but that was quickly changed to 7am. Deborah's alarm went off Friday morning and we had to say the least, a hard time getting up. Well when I came back from the bathroom, Deborah told me that both she and Liz agreed, we shouldn't leave untill 8:30am. She showed me the text mesages to prove it.

After breakfast, waiting, packing, a movie and more waiting, we finaly left grandpa's house at 10am. How does that happen? I guess when you combine Mormon Standard Time with Female Allred time, 6am translates into 10am. Thats not to bad right?

The drive up was uneventful, and we drove straight to my dorms. Deborah was taking picture like crazy, which I'm sure you can find more of on her blog. It was, however a little anti-climatic. We trooped up to the Perkins Hall Gate, and "hmm, it's not upen yet." I guess I got the day wrong, so we trooped back to the cars and went to Deborah's apartment. Once again, we were missing a manager. Fortunatley the door was unlocked. So we let ourselved in, it was cold outside.

THe next couple of hours we shopped and rearranged furniture. I have two very crafty sisters.

It the morning I finally got checked in and it was all very exciting to open my door for the first time. We had to do a trial run for the pictures before we could actully go inside. I felt bad when I woke up my brand new roomate. That was a start of a beatiful new relationship. Her name is Tamara and she seems really nice. Not bothered at all that I woke her up at 8am on a Saturday.

Once again the next couple of hours was spent unpacking and shopping. Liz gave me a lot of really great tips on how to eat healthy and cheap. Thanks Liz. Then it was time for Liz to go say goodbye and go back home.

Deborah and I went back to her apartment and tackled her room a little bit more. I would just like to take a few minutes and marvel at Deborah's stuff. She has really great stuff, and a lot of it. I mean a lot of stuff. It is absurd how much she has been able to fit into a little room she is sharing with her best friend. Having said that, I would like to say I love her very much and would love to borrow any of that stuff, at anytime.

When I finally got home it was late and all I wanted to do was go to sleep, but I was invited to watch a movie with my roommates. I agreed. Its all in the name of bonding, right? Well, I don't really know how much bonding took place. I fell asleep, and when I woke up I had drool all over my face, but not to worry, it was dark. I don't think they saw.

Here's hoping.

These pictures are for mom. This is my dorm.

The bad thing about being the new girl in the dorm, is that you get the cupboard that is so high, you can't even see what's in it. I'm not complaning. It's exciting to see what you can actually pull out.

Wow, look at that clean desk. To bad it didn't even last three hours.

College Tip, Tricks and Ways to get a 4.0 Without Showing Up

In just a few days I will officially be a college girl. I've waited a long time to finally go, and I'm so glad it's finally hear. Already the experience has been interesting. I was pretty confident that I wasn't scared and that leaving home would not be to terrible. I'm not so confident anymore.

I woke up on Saturday, our departure day, and was cranky. I was grouchy and bordering on rude on some points. I kept thinking to myself, "Tressa, what is your problem?" I'm sure some of my siblings were thinking that to.

When the trunks were finally shut and everyone went into the house fbecause Dad was going to give us blessings, I began to cry. Dad went down the line for blessings, and as my time got closer, my tears flowed faster.

Now to give you some background, I don't cry. Usually the closest I get to crying, is to want to cry. When tears do start flowing, it means I'm really feeling some emotion, but it made me feel better to look around to room and see others with tears on their faces.

This got me thinking about my other notions of college. I realized I have no idea what to expect. I have gotten a lot of advice. As I was driving through Wyoming I made a short list of the advice I've gotten.

Housing

1) stay in the dorms your first semester. It's a great way to meet people, and a nice way to ease into college.

2) Stay as far away from the dorms as possible. No boy will ever look at you, once he knows your in the dorms.

Classes.

1) focus on you classes while at school

2) pay attention to your classes but remember if you only think about your classes you'll go crazy.

3) Assignments only take the amount of time you give them. If you say an assignment will take three hours, then it will take three hours.

4) Make sure you give yourself cushion time. Start early, and allow for the unexpected.

Food

1) Eat cheap

2) Eat healthily

3) Don't worry about your food, just have boys buy your food.

Boys

1) stay away from the boys.

2) make sure you go on as many dates as possible.

3) don't be a brownie maker and chase after the boys. Have them chase after you.

4) Make your self available to the boys. They are lazy and won't spent to much energy, chasing after you.

Now, I'm sure that a lot of this advice is compatible. I'm sure that a lot of this advice I can adapt to be compatible, but some of these are polar opposites. I guess college will be a learning process and I will learn how to enjoy college. If not I got plenty of people who have great advice.

Christmas Shoppers

This Christmas season has been a very interesting experience for me. For the past three weeks I have been working as a cashier at Best Buy. It has allowed me to see the other side of Christmas shopping. The seller's side.

I have noticed that there are basically two different kinds of costumers; the happy ones and the angry ones. Now of course these categories really are more like a spectrum. There are people who really are saturated with the Christmas spirit, and there are some people who seem to be angry at me personally for how expensive their purchase is. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger!!

Anyway I love the happy ones. I always have a great little story about them. Once I was really enjoying the day, and I turned to the waiting line, said "Next" and flashed an older gentleman a huge smile. Suddenly he cocked his head and walk jauntily to my station. As he came closer I thought, "Wow, this is how a dandy would come up to me." During the whole transaction he was gallant and caviler. He was such a gentleman , and when he left, i was all in a flutter.

Another time I had a lady who wasn't to much older than me. She was buying a beyonce cd and on the back is a picture of beyonce in the most unbelievable position. The lady saw it and "Do you see that picture! Do you see that?" I barley had any time to reply before she went on, "And she looks so comfortable like that. It's like she just hangs around the house like that! It unbelievable. Way the raise the bar for the rest of us, Beyonce!"

I have a sometimes very enjoyable job. Whether its the house mom who cheers at the end of her transaction, that she finally finished the Christmas Shopping, or the man who holds up the long line by sharing with me the secrets of life, I get a kick out of my job.