Freshman

year

is

over

for

GOOD!

I

can't

wait

to

go

home!

So

long

stink

town.




Hallelujah.

My Life is a Painting.

I absolutely love my decision in minoring in Art History. I have learned so much this semester in my 202 class and want so much to be an art scholar. I love anything from Romanticism to Modernism. It's interesting to me how certain individuals really struggle opening their minds to different styles of art. Many find Duchamp's Fountain to be anything BUT art and feel perturbed just looking at it. I say "Touche Duchamp." He set out to test the Academic tradition of art and succeeded. He's an artist in my book. And in my text book.

As I've learned different elements of art I find myself critiquing EVERYTHING around me and identifying with objects that I wouldn't have otherwise thought captivating. There have been certain characteristics about my surroundings in where I live and attended to this year that have really imprinted a comfortable image on my memory. And now that the school year is quickly closing, and the weather improving drastically, I wish I would have appreciated the little things more.

Provo's mountains are incredible. Absolutely breathtaking. My small kitchen window shoots straight towards Y-Mountain and makes for a pick-me-up during dishes days. Arizona has lovely scenes of mountains but I've never lived this close to an incredible piece of nature. And the people here just fascinate me... their day to day lives and routines. I love just sitting outside and watching people pass by. We are truly manufactured beings in our machine-set ways. Even the Swords and Quills club can't escape their expectations. But I love it. I love the art in them as well. Do I sound completely full of bull? I don't mean to. I guess what I'm trying to say is whether accepted or not, art is in EVERYTHING. Gustave Courbet says it best... “Fine art is knowledge made visible.” Thank you, father of Realism, for... keeping it real.

I read this book in Sociology this year and LOVED it! Such a great read on the inequality of lower-class Americans. An incredible analysis of our perception of "laziness" and how the poor barely meet ends. READ IT.

A Tribute to Gen

I think I'm going BLOGCRAZY! I just have down time with no more classes and finals in a week that I'm lovin' this free life. Wish it were this simple ALL the time.

So my roommate Genevieve Lynette Pipes has blessed my lifethis year. It's so hard to think that we've lived together for almost 8 months now and that it will just be over and end when finals are done. We are so different and so much alike. And because of this we have been able to lift eachother up this school year and be best friends. I really love her. Just like I would if I had a sister... and if she had one too. So I decided to make a montage of funny pictures we've taken this year and tribute it to my girl, G.


Nice to meet you, Gen's stuff. This was all I had to verify that someone was moving in with me. She had a lot of.... junk. :) It was on that very bed on our first night together that I steamrolled her.


Saturday mornings are our FAVORITE! There's no need to shower or look cute... as one might very well be able to see. That's why I love her so much- because she doesn't judge me :)


Gen and I thought we were so funny. One time when we were wrestling she high-kicked me in my face... in my braces.


Krispy Kreme Night! We proved to be our best selves. Gen will eat anything and she doesn't believe in expiration dates.


The closing dance! We are such good dancers. Gen can shake it good. She's taught me a lot.

I love my Gen! She's such a good girl. Gen... you crazy!

Hopes of Spring

Today's weather was SO NICE! We had a picnic with some people from our ward after church and ate yummy food. I made my mom's delicious noodle salad and even though it needed more salt... it was still a hit!

ASL Conference.

This is Koko and he knows sign language. He told his caretakers that he had a toothache and Koko was able to see a dentist. GENIUS!

So tonight I went to the Deaf Studies Conference at UVSC. After a day of school, sociology testing, and volleyball, I rode the fun bus to UVSC to go watch a performance with a bunch of Deaf individuals. I loved it! The performance was actually a movie, not a play, so I was a little disappointed, but I still enjoyed the video on Deaf throughout history. Got some good laughs in. Mainly the Deaf man in the front who shouted (to the best of his ability) AMEN when the screen read "Sign Language is an actual language." And that same man booed the actor who played Alexander Graham Bell... Deaf history was not good to Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone. The girls I was with and I met a nice man before the showing and he chatted with us for about 25 minutes. It's always interesting to hear about the odds and ends of the Deaf Culture and how to best pursue careers in ASL fields. And my favorite part was seeing my favorite ASL High School teacher! I just love her :). It made me feel at home to see someone I knew from Gilbert in this sometimes strange place. I can't even tell you how good it felt. I love American Sign Language. It has such a buoyancy and flow to it. Being at this Conference just furthers my appreciation for the language and makes me wish I could be enrolled in UVSC classes NOW and get a kick-start to my interpreting career. AH! Not until next summer... BYU offers pretty much nothing in terms on ASL classes and interpreting classes. So for someone like me, UVSC is my best and closest bet. Don't worry... I'll still go to BYU full-time and get my degree in sociology, but I'll take one class a semester at UVSC to prepare me for the interpreting exam. Also... I'm thinking about teaching ASL classes at the gym I work at back home. That is, baby sign language classes, for parents who would teach their children. That would be cool, huh?? I probably shouldn't be thinking about that until I'm really really smart with ASL.

ANYWAYS!! Tonight was fun. Now I need to write a paper on what I learned and how ASL makes me a better person. Oh joy...

I am alive.

I guess because only like five people read my blog... I'm really never inclined to write new posts. But I figured its time to update you on my life :)

This weekend was General Conference and it was absolutely AMAZING. I just love hearing Apostles of the Lord speak and give much needed counsel. What an inspiring weekend. Such a boost. I was able to see my dearest Gilbert girls. A weekend full of Chad Michael Murray and pastries... WHAT could be better? I swear I could watch "A Cinderella Story" over and over and over again and never tire of the the magic. And I finished my forever dreaded Art History 202 paper that I'm turning in TODAY! and can finally release the burden. Last night, I ate dinner with my dear brother, Jesse, and an apartment full of boys. Just what I'm used to! It's always nice to get away from the girls (I say that as a general term... no certain girls in particular) and step into familiar territory of the no drama zone. Conference weekend makes me miss my family. The truth is... I've been missing my family all the time! I've never had trouble with homesickness before but recently it's been a different story. I loved Elder Nelson's talk on restoring faith in the family and the ties we have with our sealed extended families. What a blessing. It'll be nice to be home for a summer and refresh on why I love the Walker family so much. Less than a month and I'll be home!!! Overall, it's been a beneficial weekend and I'm ready to take on another week!