A week.

A week. One single week. 7 days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. 604,800 seconds. 20 hours of work. 3 hours of church. 14 hours of class. Undefinable hours of what's supposed to be homework-doing that turns into hulu-watching or card-game-playing.
A lot of exciting things can fit in a week. Some weeks can seem unpleasantly long. But when you think about it, a week is nothing. A week is so short and can go by so fast. The blink of an eye, really.
Did you know that there are 52 weeks in a year? Did you take advantage of every single one of those 52 this past year? I can't say that I always did.
This week can mean so many different things to different people. Happy things will happen and sad things will happen this week all around the world.
A week is a wonderful thing. I wonder what this week will bring.

Best.

Let me paint you a little picture:

Middle School. First week of school. 7th grade. Quiet, awkward, new girl who knows no one in the whole school.

Sitting in math class (Algebra 1) with lots of 8th and 9th graders, and only about five 7th graders.

All of the 8th and 9th graders leave for an assembly, the 7th graders are left to work on an assignment.

Our dear awkward new girl sits next to the wall, quietly working. Then out of nowhere, a small (4'10") Asian girl pops up and loudly, slightly crazily introduces herself. It may or may not have been terrifying.

And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Yes, I was the awkward new girl and yes, Charity was that crazy Asian.

So... basically she has been my best friend since that day. We're going on our 9th year of friendship. I know that doesn't seem like an extraordinary amount of time, but consider this: that is a little less than half my life that I have been best friends with the same person. Also, most of those years were middle school and high school and we are still friends. I don't know about your high school, but people didn't stay friends that easily in mine. The people you were friends with in 7th grade, you look back on in your senior year and are amazed that you ever got a long with them.

Basically, I've never laughed so hard, cried so hard, been so crazy, laid about doing so much nothing, or been able to do so much nonverbal communication than when I'm with Charity. She's made me who I am. Without her, I definitely wouldn't be nearly as outgoing. Or funny. 

I have never met someone who has overcome so much adversity and still has this incredible faith and love for life. Charity is strength. I legitimately do not know how she handles her trials and I look up to her so much. She is the greatest example of selfless love. She never thinks about herself (sometimes to a fault), but she always has concern for others and she has this 6th sense where she can just tell when something is wrong. I love her with all of my heart and I don't know who I would be without her.

This is us:

She is the sister I never had. The best friend I didn't know I needed. And I don't know what I would do without her. 

Raise your beard card.

So I was daydreaming in class the other day and then I was rudely awakened by the teacher slightly changing his tone of voice (it was still just as monotone, just about half a step higher). So I jolted awake, and the only thing I remembered from my quick mental trip to the great wide world of dreams was the phrase, "raise your beard card." Yeah, I wish I could remember the daydream too. I'm sure it was a good one.
Anyway, so in my half-waking state, I thought that phrase was brilliant, so I wrote it down. When I looked at it in my notes later, I just shook my head. But then it got me thinking.
I like beards.
Why do I go to BYU? Well it's definitely not because of all the good beards on campus.
There are no good beards on campus. In fact, there are no beards on campus PERIOD. Except for the few and the proud who are in possession of the coveted beard card.
What is a beard card, you might ask? Don't get excited, it's not as cool as it sounds. A beard card is a card that gives men permission to have a beard on campus. Because, you see, beards are forbidden. Why are they forbidden? This is a wonderful question. One to which I have no answer. I see nothing wrong with a well-trimmed, good-looking beard.
I love good beards. Not all beards, because there are definitely gross beards in the world. But I love good ones.
So, raise your beard card.

Some nights, like right now I can't sleep. I know what you're thinking: "Jennie, it's only 12:30 on a Friday night. You're in college, you're supposed to be out partying until the early hours of the morning. Why are you trying to go to sleep?"
And my response is yes, I typically am out partying my little heart out at night, especially on Friday. However, today is just one of those days.
I went to the men's volleyball game, which we lost. Sadly. And last night I went to the basketball game. between those two, I have zero voice and I am completely exhausted. So we got home from the game tonight and I just didn't feel like being around people. Now you see, this is weird for me. I love being around people. I love it so much that my major is based on people and their interactions. Typically I just always want to be around people, even if they are just silent and boring. People are just wonderful. Anyway, so I had an unusual desire to be by myself, so I tried to go to sleep. But then I could not sleep (lots of factors added to this inability to sleep). So naturally I decided to write me some blog posts.

Cleaning.

Somedays I just get into a cleaning mood. These cleaning moods come at the most random, inconvenient times. Like the middle of the night or when other fun things are going on. But once I'm in the mood, I just have to go with it. I have to clean until everything is done and be as productive as humanly possible. I'm a little bit obsessive compulsive, so that doesn't help things at all. Essentially, this is how I felt today:

This picture is from this blog. It's one of my faves. Please check it out and laugh hysterically at it.

Yes, indeed it was one of those days. Positive outcomes: My room is completely clean and dusted and sparkling (not a creepy vampire way). My clothes are all folded, put away, and organized by color. I finally hung up my new poster (Yeah, it's a Rocky quote. No big deal.) I rearranged all of my posters and my room's looking fly.
Negative outcomes: I did absolutely zero homework today. Blast! I need to get on that.

It's been a successful day.
And now for some inspiration:
"Going one more round when you don't think you can, that's what makes all the difference in your life." -- Rocky Balboa