Friday links and such

(Sigh of relief). It was a busy week. I turned in 5 papers and gave 2 presentations. And that was all before Thursday! And as of yesterday at 1:25 PM, I am forever (until grad school, maybe, in like 30 years) done with university lectures. So happy that portion of my life is over. Nate, the lucky fool, is completely done with this semester, he has zero finals. I have four, one of which is a paper. I'm not terribly worried about them, just anxious for the semester to be over! And as for what happens after this semester, I have applied for six jobs now. Does anyone know the average number of applications before actually getting a job? Sigh.

As always, below are some fun and interesting links from around the web.

Keeping your marriage healthy after baby.

Great poster on eating right.

If I had an iPad, it would be carried in this.

I get my laughs in at work whilst reading Nat the Fat Rat. She cracks me up!

Ideas for giving experiences this Christmas.

An amazing prize will be given to the reader who can give the title of the children's book this illustration came from.

Have a lovely weekend!


photo

What we're up to....

A lot of this.

...but I do have another interview on Monday! (Fingers crossed!)

And more of this as well.

Let's do a countdown, shall we?

One more week of class.

Two weeks until finals are over.

Two weeks and two days until the cousins come.

Two weeks and three days until the family comes.

And three weeks and 5 days until Christmas!

Hooray!

P.S. Happy December! And now I will put up the tree!

Photo credit 1 and 2.

Student Life: College Essentials

A while back I posted some tips for saving money on textbooks, today I am sharing one my college essentials: a good backpack!

 Here is my backpack. I LOVE it. Nate and my roommates pitched in to buy it for my 20th birthday last year. It's the Northface Recon, in my favorite color, yellow (of course).

Its cushioned straps, chest and hips belts make it super comfortable when walking to campus with a load of books. The side mesh pockets are perfect for my water bottle and umbrella.

When I started college back home, I had little Jansport that I got simply because it was zebra-printed. Once I got to BYU, I quickly realized that was not gonna cut it. I then got another Jansport that was larger, but of similar (low) quality. I finally realized it was worth it to get something nicer that would last. Thankfully, I had a good boyfriend and friends who helped me out. :)

This backpack has already been through a lot with me! It went with me to Peru and has been on my back ever since. I love using it on hikes and maybe one day I'll use it as a diaper bag!

P.S. Eight cool backpacks.

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Do you have any products that helped you during college? I'd love to hear!

To Hear a Prophet's Voice

Source: google.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Today we were privileged to have our prophet on campus for the weekly devotional. President Monson is a wonderful man whom I know to be modern-day prophet of God. Here are some of my favorite things from his talk:

• We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
• Study the scriptures. Come to know for yourself that the Book of Mormon is true.
• This is something that has become a pattern lately in my life. I need to study and learn from the scriptures, not just read them.
• When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed. And changed men and women can change the world [Quote from Ezra Taft Benson]
• And my favorite part is when he quoted The Lion King: "Look inside yourself. You are more than who you have become. Remember who you are. Remember."

I loved seeing the Marriott Center completely full of students who wanted to listen to our prophet. I had planned to just watch it online since I knew it would be packed and uncomfortable. But I graduate in December. When is the next time I will be in the same room as a prophet? I did have to walk through the rain and it was crowded, but I don't regret going. The Spirit filled the room as he entered. Once again, I am reminded of our Heavenly Father's love for us. What a beautiful day. 

Photography: where we live

Well it turns out we don't have to drive into the mountains to see fall colors. 

As graduation and real life gets closer, I've begun to appreciate our home more and more.

These were all taken on my walk home from campus.

 Can you spot the temple? We have loved living 200 yards from the temple!

Sorry if you are tired of all my many pictures of mountains. I just can't help it!

Waivers and sleep

Source: designboom.com via Trenda on Pinterest

School supplies as art! Snazzy!

So here's a little update on our first two weeks of this semester:

1. Nate totally spaced another class he is supposed to have for graduation. Turns out the missing class actually does not exist anymore. We were expecting the worst, "Sorry, you will have to take Geochemistry to replace this class" or something along those lines. But we got the best, "Don't  worry, we'll just waive that credit for you." Thanks BYU for letting us move on with life after December and not making us come back for another semester!

2. I'm enjoying my classes! After a lecture today, I realized that even though I have always been against daycare, it can be positive if you have high quality daycare. (But you should always take into account your child's temperament). Also, I've been trying to figure out how I can incorporate the term "intergenerational extrafamilial context" into conversation. No luck so far :)

3. I slept for 6 hours last night (compared to my usual 8) and it was great! I felt rested and I haven't been tired at all. I hope to make this a habit.

Student Life: Saving on Textbooks

Disclaimer: If you aren't a student, you may find this post incredibly boring! Now, those of you who are interested in how we saved money on textbooks...keep reading!


First, our list of the bookstore new and used prices:


Grant Writing: New-$40 Used-$30
Aging: New-$42.70 Used-$32.05
Adult Development & Aging: New-$195 Used-$147
Life with Big Al: Caregiver's Diary: New-$12.95 Used-$9.75
Social & Personality Development: New-$202 Used-$152
Cognitive Development: New-$115 Used-$86
Children's Thinking: New-$147 Used-$110
Single Variable Calculus: New-$66.70 Used-$50


Just the used priced books adds up to a whopping $616!!


First off, we stressed out a little bit and pulled out a little bit of hair...then we calmed down and started making plans:


1. Sell your old textbooks: We each have a growing collection of textbooks that we did not sell back after the classes were over because we wanted to keep them for reference during our careers etc. We decided to let go of them after deciding we would purchase an older edition (always much cheaper than the current) of each book if the need arose later on. With a combination of several of mine and several of his, we made $200! :) Not too shabby.


2. Ditch the campus bookstore: I don't hate the BYU Bookstore...they employ lots of students and they have great sales...but they do seem to have high textbook prices. We checked on Amazon for our books first and then went to Boomerang Books, just a block south of campus. I usually use Book Exchange for a lot of my books, but this year I didn't have much luck. Book Exchange is program for BYU students where you can buy and sell books straight to other students. I bet other campuses have something similar. Also I discovered Blyph this week via The Daily Universe.


3. Rent: Unfortunately, a couple of my books are brand new editions and could not be purchased used. We didn't want to pay the full price, so we decided to rent them for a portion of the new price. Score!


4. Go to class first: I'm a little OCD (I know, big surprise! ;) in the way that I HAVE to have my books before my classes start. But sometimes instructors will change their tune a little on their books. Nate waited to get his English class book this semester and then his instructor told them not to buy it. Sweet!


5. Go to the library: My good friend Holly suggests to simply borrow the necessary books from the library when needed and nix the spending of money all together!


Our end result:
Grant Writing: New-$40 (I had to buy this one new...it was not on Amazon or anywhere else! And there were no more used at the Bookstore!)
Aging: New-$42.70 (A brand new edition...nothing used available!)
Adult Development & Aging: $75 (Renting from Boomerang)
Life with Big Al: Caregiver's Diary: $6 from Boomerang
Social & Personality Development: $117 from Boomerang
Cognitive Development: $20 from Boomerang
Children's Thinking: $117 from Amazon
Single Variable Calculus: $35 (Renting for Boomerang)


Total price: $452.70...which actually translates to $252.70 since we sold $200 worth of books to Boomerang. Boo-yah. :)


Maybe these tips are old news for you...did I miss any that help you save money on textbooks?