happy day!

Last Monday, Hanna and I hid in a pine tree.
Very cute, I know. We were helping Skyler propose to Jocelyn! We hid the ring for him and then watched to make sure no one stole it. :)

It's crazy that I've know Jocelyn for almost three years now. We met in our freshman dorm. She was the first of our roommates I met and all I remember was thinking, "she is WAY shorter than I expected." Haha, but we became fast friends and have had awesome times ever since. :)

I've known of Skyler for a long time. We went to the same high school; he graduated a year before me. We had mutual friends but never really hung out. When he got home from his mission we hung out I think once over Christmas break with our mutual friends. Then he came to Provo and met Jocelyn And the rest is history :)

Anyway, I am SO happy for these two! And SO excited! :D
And, here they are :) Can't wait for the end of May! (and dress shopping because, as I've told Jocelyn, that's my favorite part)

the violin.

Once upon a time, there was a girl. When she was five years old her mom started teaching her the violin. It was a hard battle. She never wanted to practice and didn't do what her mom asked her to do. So, they found a friend who was having the same problem with her son and they switched children to teach. So this girl began learning from an amazing woman named Debbie. Practicing was still a battle. Lots of tears were shed and, quite frankly, this girl was a brat about it. But, 12 years later and she was still taking from Debbie. They all decided it was time to move on to another teacher. Next was a man, who had a serious personality clash with the girl. We can just skip that year or two and fast forward through the tears of being told she HAD to stop taking lessons because she wasn't practicing. Her next teacher was the absolutely incredibly Bonnie Romkey. She was one of a kind. The girl learned to be a performer, not just a violinist from her and enjoyed taking from her until she graduated from high school. Now this girl is in college and really misses playing her violin all the time like she used to. (have you figured out that it's me?) I REALLY miss performing like I used to and having an audition or performance to work towards. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't major in music. (because I love DNA too much.) But, I can always play the violin, like I do now, in orchestra! Violin is amazing and I just love it! :) So, here's to the memories, and many more to come!

young beginnings :)

this was my quartet at a music camp in 2005.

all-state orchestra 2007

BYU Symphony Orchestra 2009

Disneyland 2008

High School Senior Pictures 2008

Thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with my tantrums, tears, and screeching notes so I can enjoy playing today! :D

I'm ready!

Dear Mother Nature,
I realize that each season has importance and is needed. But, I'd like it very much if spring could make an appearance now. That dear groundhog will be coming out of his hole soon. PLEASE let spring come soon. This black snow left on the roads isn't appealing to the eye. And I am COLD.
Cordially,
Maren.

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb

(I hope it comes REALLY soon)

3 day weekend!

I love three day weekends! It means I can procrastinate my homework one more day! I went to Spark on Friday. It's this awesome restaurant/lounge in Provo. It serves strictly non-alcoholic drinks. We went for Lizzy's belated birthday celebration. It was super fun!

The group with our "double berry" and "kiwi martinis."

Saturday I had my first experience with live Zumba. It was pretty great! It was an hour and a half class to raise money for awareness of human trafficking. Did you know it's a huge problem here in Utah County? Crazy. My quads are sore from all the squats she made us do.

And now, a movie with the roomies. I love life. :)

7º

Oh don't even worry about it, when I walked to school today it was 7º. My hair was still a tiny bit wet so guess who got to class with frozen-stiff hair! Woohoo! Now, it has gotten up to a toasty 16º. Ugh. I think I'll hibernate until summer.

Here's pictures from Christmas break:

Okay. Nevermind. Computers are dumb.

Now I'm going to make soup and find a blanket. It's too cold.

one week in.

One week into a new semester. I can't believe it's already 2011 and my SEVENTH semester at BYU. How crazy is that?! A year from now I will be starting my last semester at BYU. That's just crazy. I'm pretty much stoked for this semester. I'm taking a smaller class load which will be awesome and I already love most of my classes. My classes are:

• Survey of World Religions (with Dr. Choi, the same guy who taught the class to my parents, he's pretty awesome)
• Genetics of Human Disease (so far, the best class I've ever taken. I am SO excited.)
• Genomics (interesting stuff, but I already know most of it so...yeah.)
• Organic Chemistry (bleh.)
• Orchestra (I'm super excited! I miss playing my violin)
• Basic Conducting (a lot of arm waving.)

Along with work and trying to get a paper written, it'll be a great semester. :)

My family took our trip to Zion that is becoming a winter tradition. It was SPECTACULAR. I was going to upload pictures, but my computer is having a hard time. Next time, I will upload pictures and maybe I'll have skiing pictures too. :)

top ten of twenty-ten.

(in no particular order)

1. almost getting stuck overnight in Boundary canyon with my family.
2. research conference in Portland, Oregon.
3. moving into an amazing ward.
4. being truly blessed to have an awesome job and work with such incredible people.
5. making some of the best friends anyone could ask for.
6. watching many friends get married/engaged, and being completely thrilled for them.
7. hiking the Subway this summer. (again)
8. taking genetics.
9. having the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ everyday.
10. orem ultimate frisbee league.