Concert

So I went to the Guster Concert at UVSC tonight with Erik and Devin and Laura. It was really good. Guster is very good in concert, and the drummer was amazing. apparently he hits those drums so hard sometimes that on tours his hands are bleeding. I believe it. It was really amazing. It was kindof weird, too, that they had this program thing... some campus awareness thing. I'm not sure what it was called, but they were handing out samples of all these different organic stuffs... Alba lotion and clif bars and chapstick. It was wacky, but I got some free chapstick and lotion. :o)

So seriously, I have been so stinking busy lately, and I don't think it's going to let up until the semester is over (only a few weeks left! yay!) On one hand, the end of the semester is nice b/c it's almost over. The light at the end of the tunnel kind of thing. On the other hand, though... All of the slacking I've done (which isn't a lot this semester) catches up to me and I get sooo busy. It seems like I have test after test after project after paper... It's hard for me to keep up and not forget anything.

speaking of, I forgot about a 20 point quiz that I had to do by tonight... grr... I already forgot about one quiz for this class. I better do good on the final paper, because otherwise I won't get a happy grade. I get pretty solid Bs on the tests, so the final shouldnt' be any different. And then there is a final paper, too, that is worth 100 points or something. All of his tests are papers, but this one, we actually get more than 50 minutes to write. It is 7-8 pages though... that's due in 2 weeks... bummer...

And I've got a paper due in my geography class in 2 weeks, a physical science test this coming week, then the next week should be fairly easy... and then finals. AAAHHH!!!!! I want to fast forward through this next month!

So, because I've been so busy, the concert was kindof a nice break, a time to just get out... problem is that I kept thinking about all of the things I needed to do. On top of all the school work, my apartment is disgusting. I just cleaned it on Sunday... hm, I guess that was almost a week ago. :o) Besides that, my sister is in town and I dont' want her to be totally bored out of her gord (couldn't resist. I haven't said that since I was 12. hehe...) I had frik take her out to a movie earlier this week so I could work on my paper and it would be quiet in the house, but I wouldn't be making everyone suffer and just sit in silence. That's one problem wiht having the computer in the same room as the tv, but then again, my apartment only has 2 rooms... heh. Well, kindof 3. The front area which includes a kitchen, the bedroom, and the bathroom.

Oh, so anyway, frik IMed me last night and said, "guess what domain name is open?" (hint: it's the one that I currently post my blog to). So anyway, he bought it and now it's mine and if you go to carolyn.erikheppler.us, it'll redirect you to here, but car0lyn.com is just way cooler, so use that one. :o)

Well... I think that's pretty much it for now. I need to go to bed. Oh! One more thing, actually. Frik and I are looking at getting a new car (since the Rio doesn't have AC, which is fine in the winter, but I'm remembering back to last summer, driving to Nevada for the 4th of July and arriving with a drenched back...) We found a few we like, and so I'm excited. We'll see where it goes!

ps: I have just been informed that frik did not make carolyn.erikheppler.us redirect you to this, but that it rewrites the domain... I have no idea what that means, but he did it all by himself, so I'm proud! :o)

Busy...

I just finished and turned in a 9 page research paper... Good times.

Just thought I'd update, though. apparently frik did something that made it so I couldn't post for a while, but it's fixed now. So I can post again, and the last post I did on Sunday finally showed up. :o)

I have to have 8 pages of science questions done by tomorrow, along with an atlas exercise... so I'm gonna make this short.

And there it is. Short.

I have been so busy... it feels like finals. I've had 3 or 4 tests each week for the past 2 weeks, and I've got 2 more plus a paper due this coming week... Fun times. :)

My mom was here for a day. We took her to get Korean food. She really didn't want to, but we made her, and she ended up liking it.

I really feel like I have nothing else to say... I know that there has been stuff happening in my life... Just can't think of any of it right now. :)

GPA

So... my GPA sucks. It's not good enough for me to apply for my major, which is really frustrating. And I've been trying to get it up for a while. It only has to be 2.85 for me to apply, but it's 2.67 now, and I've been retaking classes I really slacked off in (because I know that the reason I have any bad grades is because I'm a slacker), but it wasn't going anywhere. So, I was looking at stuff, and a few semesters ago... actually, last winter semester, I had to withdraw from a few classes for medical reasons, and I had a doctors recommendation and everything. I randomly typed one of the withdrawn classes into the GPA calculator, where you can see what your GPA would be if you re took a class and enter the grade you might get... and it turns out that those 'W's are just as bad as 'E's (the BYU equivalent of 'F'). so, next fall I'm retaking a few classes: Korean (which I got a D in b/c I never never went... I think I may have gone 10 times the whole semester, and the class met every day. The only reason I actually passed was b/c my brother was taking a class that semester from the same teacher, and that teacher fell in love with him and they became best friends. So he passed me, too... weird) And I'm also retaking a german literature class, 3 credits of a W. If I get a B in each of those classes, I will bring my GPA up to 2.99 instead of 2.67 and I'll finally be able to move on... considering I will be done with my generals after this semester (besides one history class that I will take with my Korean and German classes).

I'm excited. I feel like I'm just going to school, not doing anything... now maybe I'll be able to get somewhere. I should be able to apply for the major at the end of next fall semester, to start the program winter semester. Which means I'll be student teaching in a few years... weird.

Anyway, that's what I realized today and it made me happy to know that I can finally fix my GPA. (not what I'd like it to be, yet... I would like to have a 3.5, because I know that I could... but I dont' think that'll happen, b/c I'd have to retake a lot of classes to bring it up that much... but I can get it to a 3.05 before the end of next fall semester.)

Who needs sleep?

I do... but it doesn't look like I'll be falling asleep any time soon... I've been laying in bed for about an hour, listening to Frik snore (not that he's keeping me awake, but I am jealous that he can sleep and I can't). So I decided to come out here and clean up the apartment. And update.

I went over to Meryl's yesterday and went around with her and Canoe. We ended up going to a fabric store, and I actually bought something (which is kindof scary, because I'm not exactly a talented seamstress...) It's pretty simple. I want to make an apron,which should be fairly easy. The fabric I got is really cute. I'm excited.

other than that... not much going on. Two of our guppies died. Well 3 total, but two recently. And the first one didn't so much die as "disappear". Can't find a single remain of him. I think the other guppie in his tank may have eaten him. gross.

I taught sunday school today. It was pretty nerveracking. I want to do it again, though, to help me overcome that weakness/ fear. I'm not sure what it is, but something about standing up in front of people and trying to teach is difficult. I read and studied the material the day before, but when I got up to teach, suddenly everything I looked at in the manual or scriptures was foreign. Didn't understand any of it. Oh well. I guess it went ok. Frik said that the only problem was that I wasn't confident at all. Everyone kept telling me I was doing fine, but I would stand there one minute and not know what I was talking about the next... it was frustrating. I'm going to ask one of the teachers to let me do it again. :o)

lets see... Oh, Bridget is coming over for her spring break. That should be fun. I hope I can think of something interesting to do with her, otherwise she will be bored after 3 days, I'm sure. :o)

time to clean and then try to sleep again!

Another interesting article...

Food Fight: Scientists take on sodas as 'cigarettes' of obesity

I know, I'm crazy...

My old roommates used to make fun of me for not cooking with teflon pans, and since I was the only one who had pans (which happened to be stainless steel, not coated in any way at all) they would use mine all the time... and use plastic spatulas on them which would be useless, since plastic spatualas are really only effective on teflon coated pans...

anyway, here's an article that Frik showed me about teflon. The way I see it... sure, if you cook with teflon, you don't have to use oil... but not all oil is bad oil, which some people don't seem to understand. Yeah, you don't necessarly want to saturate everything you eat with butter and lard, but some oils (olive oil and canola oil are two) will lower your cholesterol (They actually increase your HDL and lower your LDL, and that's a good thing)

Ok, that's all starting to get very confusing. This is the breakdown that I learned from my biology class:

LDL (low density lipoprotiens) and HDL (high density Lipoprotiens) are the 2 different kinds of cholesterol in the blood stream. If I remember correctly, HDL is responsible for bringing bad things to the liver, and LDL brings them back into the bloodstream. That might not be true, but either way, I know that the HDL is good for you, and LDL is bad for you.

omega 3 fatty acids (which are in fish and I think walnuts) will increase your HDL and lower your LDL... like a double bonus...

monounsaturated fatty acids (which are in olive oil and I think canola oil) will increase your HDL, and leave your LDL unchanged.

polyunsaturated fats, which are in other oils... vegetable oils... will increase your HDL, but can also increase your LDL

Saturated fats, which are found in butter and meat products, will increase your LDL, but leave your HDL the same.

Trans-fats, which are created by hydrogenating oils, and are found in things like vegetable shortening and pre-packaged, highly preserved foods, will increase your LDL, and decrease your HDL (so it's a double negative).

Ok, So i could be totally butchering that, but that's the order of good oils to bad oils: omega 3 fatty acids, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated, transfats. Oh, get this: trans fats are created by hydrogenation, right? ok, I think this is the sickest thing... but hydrogenation is a process where thy pump hydrogen into the oils and make bonds which make the oil firm. The purpose of this is to make packaged foods "creamy", and also makes them last longer (think twinkies with their amazing shelf life and cream fillings... mmm.....)

Anyway... where in the world was I going with all of that? Oh yes. Not all oils or fats are bad. Some are very good, in fact. especially if you are trying to lower your cholesterol. Some people will eat foods with the hydrogenated oils in them because they have less fat overall (cool whip vs. whipped cream) but they could be much worse for your heart.

This all relates to my teflon pan rant. trust me. :o)

So, since not all oil is bad, it's ok to not use teflon pans. In fact... If you think about it, you are gradually eating your pans over time. Really old pans will have dips in them or the teflon will be worn thin or scratched or whatever... and where do you think that is all going?? That's why I like to cook with cast iron... b/c it keeps me from being anemic! (oh, and I don't use Aluminum either, b/c it's been linked to alzheimers...not a causal link, but a link none the less...)

I bet you all didn't know I was so obsessed with how I cook, did you? Just trust that if you ever eat something I prepared, you will be pretty safe from ingesting carcinogens. :o)