on top of the world

how do you define a summer?

YDAS (or...you define a summer)

by ian baenziger, class president of BYUJC summer 2012

you define a summer by all the hilarious things rachel miner and becca j would do at 11:30 at night to avoid starting their papers.

YDAS by rachel mackay falling in love in a hopeless place to the man john shackelford, willing to do push-ups in any place.

YDAS by stehly being cooler than the other side of the pillow and megan thomas being sweeter than baklava.

YDAS by the fact that jerica is everybody's favorite person. 

YDAS by blake being the most entertaining person to sit next to on a bus, and by the fact that ryan could probably balance that bus on his chin. 

YDAS when you recognize you will never be as smart as hannah r, as funny as david c, or as good looking as david burbidge. 

YDAS by the life-changing decisions you make, like cutting the steady paycheck in hopes of winning the jackpot, playing it cool when a boy decides to move to your town just to be close to you, and by deciding to dramatically rearrange your life to answer the call of a mission. and to those whom i hope they know i refer, i hope they feel that they are at this moment "doing the things that god requires of their hands and precisely where their father in heaven wants them to be."

YDAS by every girl wanting amy brown's curls, priscilla hobb's smile, and lane thomas' fiancee.

YDAS by the things you never would have expected, from jamie eternally balancing on the kibbutz raft in galilee to brianne throwing grown men around in the self-defense class, 

from chantel's dress at arab culture night to geoff's bow tie and vest at the informal talent show, 

from rachael ely's effort to stay up past midnight every night in the galilee

to mckenzie's amazing job on the t-shirts, which has lead you to hope that she'd give you a discount on your wedding announcement (and if any girls are interested in trying to get a double discount, come see me afterwards).

YDAS by the time that sweet old nate jellen popped out at you from shadows as the most terrifying zombie you've ever seen. 

YDAS by alvin's hot yellow pants! because no ordinary leggings are adequate to robe this gentle greek god.

YDAS with rachel edwards being a one woman dance party and our friend l'angel being a one woman barber shop. 

YDAS by andy knowing everything about ANE, susan knowing everything about israel and palestine, and luke knowing everything about anything obscure found on the internet. 

YDAS a summer by looking at maddy and realizing you have never ben so sincerely happy for a girl to have met the boy of her dreams. 

YDAS by aj leading a dance party on a turkish beach, robert whipping out "call me maybe" during the formal talent show, and having your jaw hit the floor as becca haws goes crazy on the dance floor on the 4th of july. 

YDAS by how deveree and analise always make you feel happier, how paige and anna marie always make you feel better about yourself, and how tacy and melissa always make you feel important.

YDAS by the times you appreciated the deep inner strength of both the natalies, strength that is a lot more apparent to us than they might realize. 

YDAS by the first time you checked out catsofjeru.blogspot.com and thought, "stephanie and ann marie, thank you for giving voice to the oppressed and marginalized."

YDAS by the goofy look dwight gets he's happy, by the insatiable hunger ashley gets when she's curious, and the bigger than the moon grin sarah barlow gets when she's glad. 

YDAS by being inspired over and over watching pam overcome her fear of small spaces. it's really a juan-derful thing. 

YDAS by heather's quite selflessness, karen's undeniable kindness, and shelly's queen-like grace.

YDAS by acknowledging that if sass were oil, then avery and camila would be the two richest countries in the world. 

YDAS by how good inside you feel when you make sarah pittenger burst out laughing.

YDAS by the fact that if you can't get along with stephanie cabamongan or sarah mader, you probably can't get along with anyone. 

YDAS by the fact that sean really does kind of grow on you after a while...rumor has it he's grown on camila quite a bit.

YDAS by sitting outside beneath a beautiful jerusalem sunset, but not noticing it because you're still trying to figure out how nate mcmaster invented tobit's perpetual prison curse off the top of his head. 

YDAS by the hundreds of songs jay and whitney dedicate to each other. 

YDAS by being blown away by john leehmius singing "o come o come emmanuel" at the formal talent show, alicia's "his hands" in galilee, and emily chamber's "savior redeemer of my soul" in sacrament meeting. 

YDAS by meeting an enigma like michael peterson. enigmatic in the sense that a man so charming and good looking is rarely so charitable, selfless, and down to earth. 

YDAS by the faces that rachelle makes. 

YDAS by watching and incredibly nervous and careful laura walton give her first full haircut and having it turn out as good as any president could hope for. 

YDAS by meeting the adventurous soul alyssa bybee, who loves ethiopian food and leaves for china in a few weeks. 

YDAS by the 22 line love poem that sarah jane wrote you, or those two times in galilee where you almost accidentally kissed dana...or maybe that's how i'll define my summer...

YDAS by the fact that you'll probably be tagged in at least one of chloe's 11,000 pictures. 

YDAS by being moved by lauren barden's deep passion for life and everything good about it. 

YDAS by he fact that you can hear robin's laugh across the oasis, tour bus, and probably the old city. 

YDAS by the night where melinda, hailey, and megan watts became the most profitable jc students in history, fiddling their way to enough money in an hour to buy a nativity set. 

YDAS by watching rachel messick in lipstick and a black dress gracefully glide away from the podium, the very podium where she declared that "blood alone will turn the wheels of history!" 

you will define this summer largely by it's loud laughs, spiritual experiences, and fond memories. but each laugh made louder, each experience felt deeper, and each memory made unforgettable was made that way by 78 others. and this one person is you. to the 78 "yous" who made these three months perhaps the best of my life, i say thank you. 

last week in pictures

well, i'm home. i feel weird. when i am dancing around my kitchen eating whatever i want whenever i want or driving my ancient car again, i feel happy. when i remember that three days ago, i was walking through the garden of gethsemane with good friends, i feel really sad. i already feel like the summer was a dream. i've been home two days. soon it will be a week and then a month and then a year. i am praying and hoping that i always feel as close to the experience as i do now. i feel like i need a few more posts to conclude the jerusalem summer, so look out for them this week, but for now, here are some pics from my last week in jeru. it was everything i could have asked for in a last week. it included many sunsets, city outings, pictures, a game or two of quidditch for harry potter's birthday, and reflecting on the summer. on our last day, we had a field trip where we walked to all of christ's last stops of his life and instead of listening to brother harper the whole time (which is usually how field trips go), he had us share the things we have learned and how we are going to carry them over into "regular life." it was a good way to end the semester. right before we left for the airport, we watched the sunset for the last time and recited the living christ and sang together and said our goodbyes. i feel great about how things ended. i went to jerusalem, learned more than i hoped i could, had the experience i wanted, and because of that, i am content coming home. so mostly there are just happy feelings and a very tender place in my heart for jerusalem.

galilee

i can't really think of words that would describe how great galilee was. i feel like it was every reason i wanted to do this study abroad. we studied christ's ministry where his ministry took place. i love galilee so much! 

this is an overlook of the sea of galilee (which is actually a lake) and we stayed in a kibbutz right on the shore. it was so beautiful. it kind of reminded me of bear lake. we took field trips to sites, had classes in a conference room, and had some free time to swim. some of the sites we went to were the mount of beatitudes, nazareth, capernum, the mount of transfiguration, and a lot of other places where christ taught. you cannot beat hanging out with friends, reading scriptures, in nazareth. 

taking a boat ride on the sea of galilee. professor harper on the right...he may be the best university teacher i've ever had. 

professor ludlow and family. i am going to miss them SO much. 

this is a 1st century boat that was found buried on the shore a few years ago!

desperate times, desperate measures. did you know you can sweat from your knees? there and a lot of other places i didn't know about till this summer. 

going to church at the branch in tiberias. the view is breathtaking! 

nightly hammock hang outs occurred. as well as, ahem...middle of the night swims. don't tell kent jackson or he'll have me on the next flight home. oh wait, i'm already scheduled on the next flight home! 4 days left. there are many mixed emotions here in jerusalem.