Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I have been blessed to have had many moms in my life. So thank you, especially to Mom, Carol, Becca, and my aunts! You are all amazing women and I am so lucky to have you in my life.

Graduates

Emma graduated with her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology form BYU this year. I am so proud of her! She worked so hard for this and I am happy for achievement. She is moving Alabama to do Teach for America. She will be a secondary school math teacher. I wish her all the best of luck! My cousin David graduated in December with his MBA from USU Eastern. Congratulations David! I can't even imagine the kind of work it took to get you where you are today. Good luck to both of you as your new future lives begin!

BYU Year 2 Semester 2

I can't believe another semester has come and gone. Crazy how fast it went. I survived all my finals and I am ready for summer break. This semester was full of fun times, I didn't take as many pictures as I did the semester before. So it doesn't look as epic, but I promise it was.

We had another ward cabin trip. As always, it was so much fun! We went back to Brother Horn's cabin. This was the first time Emma and Helena were able to make it up. We ate dinner, played games, watched Wait Until Dark, and just got to know each other. 

On our living room wall we have this map. On this map are many blue stars. No one knows why the stars are there. So one night, when we were all in that tired/silly mood we came up with a back story to the stars. We said we were tracking natural disasters (many have happened this past year) and the darker the blue, the more destruction there was. Also the hashtag about Coke deals with a day that Emma thought the world was really ending, but her teacher was really just referring to regular coke on campus (previously you could only buy caffeine free).

In one of my classes we had to come up with 3 things we wanted to rid the world of. We were in teams and my team went with Pornography, Tobacco and Illicit Drugs. The team that came in second voted off the MARB building, late fees at the testing center, and night time PDA. 

My Relief Society Sisters. My ward is big enough that we have 2 Relief Society's. So I am in RS 1.

On Valentine's Day we decided to have a movie and chocolate party as roommates. We watch the movie The Lost Valentine. Helena's friend Matt came over and joined us as well. We ate Dove Chocolate's and I can't remember why but there was one that said You're Melting my Heart or something along those lines. So far the rest of the night and really semester that became our joke anytime anything sweet happened.

I competed in the United States National Championship Dancesport competition. Really and truly it was just another dancesport. My partner and I danced the 380 Mambo and we made all the way through the semi-finals. Personal best for me. Thanks Landon! Below I will post a video of my 380 Dance Class' performance.

I made homemade chicken noodle soup for the first time. It was pretty tasty if I do say so myself. I will have to make it again someday.

I chopped my hair off. I was tired of growing it out, because it wouldn't get past the length it was at. I think it looks great and that's what matters.

I had the opportunity to attend the URTA Conference. This was a good opportunity for me to see a little bit of what Recreation Therapy is all about. Another fun bonus is I got to see Staci Bingham Piquet. She grew up in Altamont, but has since moved to Idaho.

Sometimes when it rains I get to see a rainbow. This one was while I was at work. They just remind me of God's love for me and his children on this earth.

 To end the semester, I decided to have a fondue night with my roommates and some friends. It turned out great! Most of them had never fondued before. Even if they had, they hadn't ever had it Gardner style. It was a lot of fun!

So as we know I went to several stage performances last semester, 3 of which are pictured below. The only one I made it to this semester was Ballroom Dance Company show. Emma came with. It was incredible! I loved all the music and the dances. A few of my class members are on team. It was really fun to see them!

380 Dance Class Performance

This was my dance class performance. We dance to Time of Your Life from the movie Dirty Dancing.  It was a lot of fun! My roommate Emma, Aunt Mary and Uncle Boyd came to watch me. I appreciate all there love and support. Enjoy!

Easter 2018

Easter 2018 was awesome! One of my best friends and former Mission Companion Cat (Sister A.) came out. We went to our mission reunion Friday night. We didn't tell anyone that she was coming. I wish I could have recorded some of the reactions. Let's just say there were a few squeals and a lot of smiles.

That night we headed to Green River to meet up with the rest of my family. We spent the rest of the weekend there relaxing, watching General Conference, and celebrating Easter. Side note from General Conference, my mission president, President Patrick was called as an area 70s. That was cool. I had just spoken with him and his wife the night before. All too quickly the weekend was over and I took Cat up to Ogden to meet up with her cousin who took her back to Rexburg. I stopped in to visit my dad for a couple of hours. 

Monday was when the rest of the Mathis Clan was getting together for a party. I decided that the party was more worth it to me then going to class. So I skipped all my classes and went back to Green River for our party. We took the new bike trail in Green River. It was only suppose to be 5.1 miles. No it was 6. I biked, pushed Meg's bike for a little over 1/2. Thanks Nathan and Amy for stopping and waiting for me at the one spot where I don't think I would have gotten Meg's bike up it myself! It was pretty much vertical rock that I had to push/carry the bike up.

After that we went to Blimpe's and got sandwiches to eat and went back to Aunt Ann and Uncle Lee's house to visit and play more and have book club. Our book is called Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen. It was about how the Constitution of the United States came to be. Uncle Stan led our discussion and I learned quite a bit (I only had time to read the first 3 chapters).

All in all it was a great Easter Weekend!

Helena's Birthday

My roommate Helena is having a birthday on Thursday. Today we decided to take her to Build-A-Bear Workshop to celebrate. She has never been there before, and after falling in love with Emma Rose's Toothless from there, we decided to take her as a surprise. We even blindfolded her and everything. Her friend Eve came with us. After, we went to La Carreta's to eat lunch. It's a Peruvian restaurant and it is one of my favorites!

Velour

Emma Rose and I have been trying to go to Velour for almost a year now. It's a local place in town where bands come and perform. Every time we have tried in the past, something happens and one of us can't go. We finally made it. We had 3 performers/groups and all did amazing!

We also went to CupBop because I hadn't been there either. It's Korean food and it was amazing. While we were there they were playing the opening Ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. I like to think we were being festive for the Olympics.