Ask BYU-I

I love my job. I love my job so. so. so much.

Partly because I love what I do.

But mostly because I love who I do it with.

Check us out.

Aren't they the biggest goobs you have ever seen?

We had an awesome chip and dip party this week. So. Much. Fun.

We love each other and look dang good in uniform!

Our event of the semester, the Lost and Found sale!

I seriously couldn't ask for smarter, kinder, funnier coworkers.  I work for three hours every morning, but come back and spend every other ounce of my free time at work just because I want to be with these people.

I love them!

More blog posts to come about work I'm sure!

"Oh Be Wise, What Can I Say More"

The day has come, my wisdom teeth are no longer apart of me... and you know what? It's been a blast!

November 1st at 10:00am, I went in for surgery and came out feeling like a million bucks!

Right after surgery

They put me under and my doctor told me that as soon as I started coming to, I broke into a medley of "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today", "More Holiness Give Me", "Lead Kindly Light" and "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today".  I was then taken into a room where my dear roommate Kati was waiting for me. She got all sorts of good stuff videotaped in that waiting room. They're pretty funny, not going to lie.

Over all, I was well-tempered, happy, pretty gosh darn loopy, but feeling good! I also desperately wanted to go to work and have apartment prayer..?

I went home and went straight to bed where I took a nice two hour nap and woke up to Hannah and Claire by my bedside, with applesauce, pudding, creamies, cottage cheese and more. Right after that nap was the worst because I hadn't taken my meds beforehand and I was in pain! I was also still really groggy and starving. However, Hannah and Claire were seriously angels and got some food in my stomach, ice on my face, and medicine in my system. I seriously would have just laid in bed for the rest of the had had they not come.

Next came more visitors! My awesome neighbors from 214 and Eric came over to wish me well and bring me a delicious Jamba Juice!

Nap time... again. (P.S. I have awesome dreams when I'm on drugs)

I woke up again to Claire who had made me green mac and cheese (sentimental :) and then more visitors (Kylie, Kelsey, Eric, Dallin, Sierra).

So great! By then I was up and feeling good and wanted nothing more than to go to my brother's softball game in the freezing cold. So I did! I went, cheered my guts out, froze my tush off and had a good time! Mind you, this was literally just hours after surgery, but I had so much energy and was feeling so good.


I did bow-out of the after party at Clark, but that was only because I had a lot of homework to do. So I came home and was greeted to more visitors and stayed up til about 2 doing homework and eating the most fabulous butternut squash soup that Kim had made for me.

Not bad for day one of surgery huh?!

Day 2
I woke up the next day, got ready and headed on campus where I spent 6 hours in the library and in classes. I got so, so much done, but it was not my smartest idea. I didn't eat anything all day and didn't take any breaks. I came home so stinking tired, hungry, in pain and close to tears. I'll admit that there were a few times I almost lost it and just wanted my mom to come take care of me. But I've held myself together pretty ok :)

Lucky for me, my friends know that visitors and social interaction are the most effective medicine for me. I just want to know I'm loved! So I had some surprise visits from Danielle and Angel from work, all three of my siblings and more, all bringing gifts of soup, hummus, pudding, applesauce and other edibles  that I was in dire need of!


And now I'm sitting here thinking, holy cow, getting my teeth out was no big deal and kind of fun! Minus the pain, emotional breakdown and loopiness.

Oh, I almost forgot about the swelling! Day one wasn't bad at all, but those cheeks sure blew up on day two!

Love, Noelle

One of the Cool Kids #finally

Ok let's be honest, I still have no idea what the proper use of a hash tag is, so don't expect me to be throwing out too many of them...correctly at least.

In other news:
I did it! I finally buckled down and bought an IPhone. It was quite the ordeal trying to get it actually. But several phone calls and two orders later, here I am blogging from my iPhone (oh PS I stepped on and broke my laptop the first day of school this semester, hence the lack of blogging) and I couldn't be happier! It's so fun and I am a believer! I've had it for about 24 hours now and have barely scratched the surface with this puppy.

However, guidelines must be set. I will not become one of those kids who is constantly on their phone ( although after seeing how much you can do on this thing, I now judge those kids a bit less harshly).

The LDS apps are awesome too, but way before I even bought my phone I decided that this nifty little device will not replace my hardcopy scriptures and I will not be whipping this baby out during my church meetings even if its just to take notes or look up a scripture or quote related to the lesson. I don't even want to have it out because the temptation to use one if its other gazillion functions would be far to great.

Either way, what are your thoughts on such things?

And if you are an smartphoner, what are some of your must have apps? Do share :)

Love, Noelle

Life Lately

Oh where to begin. I don't even know.
Here are a few pictures I've snapped on my phone (gotta love the quality) these past two weeks..

So I'm sitting in a meeting at around 11:30 when the fire alarm goes out. Reminded me of the good ol days... in elementary school where we'd all line up by the backstops. Except for this was 1300+ men who know more about computers than I ever thought possible.

My dear brother Brandon has been so great! This car has been the death of me, and Brandon has trotted up here to Riverton every week so far to take a look at it and try and help me out. So grateful for "Brothers who know" and who are willing to help out their little sis.

I can't believe I made it through day one! On top of that I started off day two with this little gem on my desk, how nice!

How cool is my life?

Except for the days when you feel like your whole entire world is falling apart and everything you touch breaks, and absolutely nothing is working in your favor, and the fact that  you have a picture of batman and a woman drawn on your wall isn't helping.. (haha) and you just try and smile through the tears and sing Andy Grammar songs to keep from giving up on everything and moving home to die as an old maid in the depths of Overton, Nevada...

Just kidding. Sort of. Life is good. I'm learning way more than I even bargained for and I'm right on the career path that I want to be on. Not to mention that I'm learning life lessons right and left and I'm pretty sure that if you told me that my identity was going to be stolen along with all my money, I was going to lose all my hair in a freak accident annnnd I was probably going to marry a nerdy man.... I'd say, bring it on. Bring it alll on.

Love, Noelle

I Do Hard Things So That I Can.... Do Hard Things

Today, a girl in relief society said that.

And it stuck.

It's so true isn't it?

Remember my first week in Peru? It was HARD.

I was sick the entire time. I was exhausted. We had black mold carpeting our ceiling. I couldn't understand anyone. I shivered myself to sleep every night and woke up at least 6 or 7 times each night out of discomfort, frozen-ness or bugs biting me. We didn't know where or how to buy food. We didn't have a refrigerator or carpet. We didn't have washers or dryers. We didn't have hot water. We didn't have an oven. We didn't have family close by. Most of the days we didn't have running water or electricity. Gosh. It was hard.

At the end of that first week, I told my parents that I was booking my first flight out of there because this was just too hard.

Well, I stayed. And it was still hard, but it got easier. We learned to do with out and make do with what we had. We learned to love our living conditions and those around us. And after a HARD first week, I had three of the best months of my life.

That really hard first week and those challenging three months have prepared me for this next chapter of my life.

See if you can find the parallels.

I know nobody in Riverton, thus I was searching anxiously for a place to stay. Last minute, I found a family who was renting a room out of their basement. So without any further questions, I loaded up and drove to Riverton to move in.

I moved in and was put in a room in the basement...with carpet!! Looking good so far right? I have a place to live! Well not really. Because they weren't planning on having somebody move in so soon, so they weren't really ready for me.

I had no refrigerator to put my food. No oven or stove to cook my food. No sink to rinse my vegetables or wash my dishes. No counters to prepare my food on. No toaster, microwave, toaster oven etc. Essentially no kitchen. I also had NO money. I spent every last penny in Peru and couldn't even afford to pay the $20 bucks a month they were asking to use the laundry room. So I was without a washer and a dryer as well.

But guess what? This was nooo big deal to me! My mom  kind of wanted me to move out of there asap and find something a little bit more suited to my needs, or at least the needs of a normal person... but I had spent the last three months living in such uncomfortable circumstances that a few weeks with out any means to keep/cook/wash/prepare my grub seemed like cake. And it was!  Eventually, the so called "necessities" started popping up, a fridge here, hot plate there. I'm still without a sink or running water, but hellooo that's what the hose outside is for right?

I did those "hard" months in Peru, so that I could do these "hard" weeks in Riverton. So grateful for that prep.

Here's another one.

Remember how we shipped ourselves off to a foreign country where we did not speak the language? Yeah I do. Ohh how my head would ache as I'd desperately try and understand what these people were desperately trying to communicate to me. It expended my brain power like none other I tell you.

Well guess what. I just started a job in a building of 1300 people who speak a completely foreign language. Servers, Oracle, Beach Picture Apps, Remedy,Configuration Items... and don't even get me started on the acronyms! SM, DTE, NPS, EIM, KPI, DSA, CAB, COB, EDDI. Seriously, I almost wish that they were speaking Spanish.

Lesson Number One in ICS lingo

It's hard. But I was totally prepared for it by my time in Peru. I'm used to that "Oh my gosh, they're saying something important, and I'm trying really hard to understand it.. but I'm totally lost" feeling, and I know that I'm a fast learner and that I'll catch on to the language in time.

So everyday as a new "hard" thing comes up...(i.e. My car is a goner so now I'm living and working in this brand new city...with my two feet as my only means of transportation..) I know that I'm doing them in preparation for... more hard things. You can look at that as a downer... my whole life is and forever will be hard, or you can look on the bright side. Either way, the hard times keep on comin'.

So perhaps the fact that I have to wake up an hour and a half earlier than usual so that I can walk to work in the chilly mornings (tomorrow it's supposed to rain... not sure how that'll work out), is simply preparation for another hard time coming.  I'll be ready for it.

Love, Noelle

Why Aren't We Laughing?

Remember how on Pinterest the following saying was being posted like crazy? You may not recall, but I do. And here's why:

I remember it partly because I didn't like it, and mostly because I didn't get it. I can pretty much not relate to this quaint, little phrase one bit!

I've made plans my whole life. I remember at a young age (maybe 10 or so) hearing the word Valedictorian for the first time, and making a plan at that moment that I was going to graduate 8 years later with that title.

I made plans to get involved. To be an efy counselor. To work in the Kimball building. To memorize documents that are important to me. To learn Spanish. To get healthy.

Eight months ago, I made a huge plan that (to be honest) I didn't really think would follow through. I decided that I wanted to travel and do humanitarian work, and I decided that I wanted to intern for the church. These were two things that I have dreamed about for a long time, but they just didn't seem in my reach. 

But, I planned on them anyway. Lo and behold, those dreams became plans, and those plans became a reality. Here I am, living in Utah, interning for the Church after having just spent three of the best months of my life serving in Peru.

I have my graduation plans all lined up. I have a plan for another internship. I have plans for exactly where I want to work when I graduate. I have plans to marry in the temple and raise the cutest little family that you ever did see. I have plans to run a marathon. I have plans to make a difference. I have plans to see more of the world. Oh do I have plans....and I tell God my plans.

 And you know what.... I'm not hearing much divine laughter.

Love, Noelle

Will Somebody Please Tell Me What I Was Thinking...

.....When I stood in the Kimball building waiting to be interviewed for a position that I had no clue about what-so-ever??
Confession: As I stood waiting for my interview, I came this close to canceling it THIS many times.

And would somebody please enlighten me as to why I kept interviewing for this said position that I STILL had no clue about?
Confession: They were phone interviews, and everytime my phone rang, I came THIS  close to ignoring the call, and throwing it all away.

And while we're at it, will another one of you please tell me why I'm packing up everything I own to do something that scares me silly?
Because as I sit here, I cannot for the life of me figure this one out.

Here's a whole lot of "Never Have I Evers" that I'll be able to check off in the next three days.

Never Have I EVER

• Lived in Utah
• Moved somewhere all by myself with no beforehand knowledge of ANYONE I will be living with... or even near for that matter
• Worked 40 hours a week at a REAL job where what you do actually matters
• Taken online classes
• Worked 40 hours a week WHILE taking 14 online credits. Kill me now.
• Had a $5.23 balance in my bank account.
• Driven on the freeway by myself (I know, it's pathetic, but I think that last time I even drove on the freeway was when I had my permit!)

Ok, ok. Now that that's out of my system..

Ready or not Riverton, Here I come!

It would be a lie for me to say that I'm excited for this next chapter in my life, because I truly have never been so scared in my entire life. I just have to document how totally freaked out I am. Leaving for Peru  seemed like a breeze compared to this and I think it's because I had Brittany and Abigail to rely on. I am for the first time, officially and completely on my own.

Wish me luck!
Love, Noelle

Last Friday Night

Ok so last night technically wasn't my "Last Friday Night" in Rexburg seeing as I'll be here next Friday as well, but next Friday night will be filled to the brim with work, packing and cleaning.

Can I please just say that I love the people of Rexburg so much, and I love BYU-Idaho more than I ever thought possible.

Here's what went down.

Wake up, circuit train at the gym, go to class, ace my Law and Ethics final.

Here's where it gets good:

I worked from 2-5 with Lyndi and Timber. In case you haven't heard, I love my job. I love everyone I get to work with. I never want to leave.

Ask BYU-I: Fall 2011

At six we had a Student Support work party catered by Texas Roadhouse. MMmmmm MMMMmmm Good! All my co-workers were there and let me tell you, we had a blast. We probably should have behaved a bit more maturely...but when we get together, it's a party. I kid you not. I walked out thinking, "Gosh I love these people, why am I leaving them??"

They loaded our plates up!

Then I went to the Best Of Show on campus with some of my favorite people. It made me fall in love with country music all over again and made me wish with every fiber of my being that I had an ounce of dancer's blood in me.

Speaking of which... I went to the Hart dance with even MORE of my favorite people. Every single time I turned around, I saw someone that I knew and loved. Again, I kid you not. That place was hoppin' (literally) with the Greats.

Despite the need I feel to be THEE most awkward dancer on the dance floor, I had so much fun and was able to see sooo many people that I'd been missing. And they didn't even judge me for my total lack of rhythm and grace.

I then stopped at a friends house where I randomly met a boy we'll call... Tim. He explained lots of things to me about a different boy that I had been oh so curious about. It was fantastic.

Just as I had walked into my own apartment to get ready for the bed, my ears were filled with the melodious tunes of bass and tenor voices serenading me outside my window with none other than, The First Noelle. A group of boys chancing the cold to come carol to me on their way home...? Yeah I'll take that!

Right after that, I headed down to 212 and watched Never Say Never, aka the Justine Bieber movie projected big screen onto the wall with some classy ladies. I'm by no means obsessed with the Biebs, but I dare you to not watch that movie and fall in love with him for the time that your watching the movie.

Oh what a glorious night. Thanks Rexburg. You've been grand.

Love, Noelle

Extreme Home Makeover: Family Edition

For Thanksgiving break this year, the Skousen family loaded up the cars, trucks and SUV’s and headed to Mesa, Arizona.

Our lovely Aunt Dina lives in Mesa and due to some plumbing/flooding/years and years of wear and tear, her house was in desperate need of some TLC.

That’s exactly what we gave it.

We learned to paint, cut-in, spackle, blend, edge, tape, sand, scrape, gut, hammer, mud, scrub, screw, sand, repaint and so much more.

We did it all.
In under four days.

From sun-up til the late hours of the night, the little house was filled to the brim with family.

We had Miyasaki’s, Rust’s, Skousen’s and Horito’s tackling this feat from the inside out.
I believe there was a total of 53 of us. Not bad eh?

We arrived Wednesday night and got to work on ripping out carpet, spackling holes, scrubbing down walls and a million other things.

By Thursday morning we had gutted most of the house and got to work on scrubbing and sanding cupboards. We also started painting all the rooms. 

I love this first picture of Grandma down on the floor scrubbin, what a woman!

Paint. Paint. Pain. Paint.

We were sure to take breathers every so often.

We did take a quick break to enjoy a fabulous traditional thanksgiving dinner complete with my personal favorites: Pomegranate jello and onion casserole. By the end of our feast we were all sprawled out across the entire church passed out on the carpet, face down. Then it was back to work til 10 pm.

Friday morning came and so did a whole nother set of assignments. Again we worked and played and ate all day long.
P.S. We ripped out all the toilets of the house and therefore often heard shouts of "I'm going to Home Depot, who needs to use the bathroom?" What an adventure.
On Friday night, the Mexican Food God's visited us and fed us homemade carnitas. So good. So needed. Then back to work.

By Saturday morning we were worn out. But there was still work to be done. Carpet to be put in, fridges to clean out, cupboards to re-paint, hardware to install, furniture to be cleaned and moved back in and so much more.

My family left at about 6pm that night. The house had been transformed. It was amazing!

I can’t think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving than surrounded by family, immediate and extended, working side by side for a good cause. I got to know my cousins better and meet aunts and uncles I hadn’t seen in years. I learned so much about construction and about my family. Gosh I love them. This week has made me realize how blessed I am to live in the family that I do. I am indeed thankful for them and for this opportunity we had to grow closer together.

Thanks family!

Love, Noelle

We're Official :)

Let it be known that it all officially went down on 11-10-2011

a. I officially bought my non-refundable plane ticket to Peru.
b. I officially accepted a Project Manager internship position at LDS IT and Communication
c. My mind is officially blown.

This is really happening. My goals and dreams are now a reality. OH MY GOODNESS. Ok here's the whole story. Feel free to keep reading, but I don't blame you if you don't.... this is going to get kind of lengthy :)

a. See all my other posts about Peru for more info here. the non-refundable tickets were purchased today, so this is a done deal!

b. At the beginning of the semester we had a career fair on campus. I'm a junior and have been getting anxious about getting an internship before I graduate (a requirement for my major). So I attended in hopes to get the ball moving on some sort of internship. Secretly I wanted something super chill in Rexburg so I could stay here for my off-track and kill two birds with one stone. That would have been so easy and so comfortable.

Well, that night I took a shot in the dark and signed up for an interview with LDS Information Technology and Communication. In my mind I had worked up this plan in my mind here's what it consisted of:


I would spend my winter semester in Peru doing Humanitarian work, and then I would come home and spend my spring semester interning for the church. It just seemed so right!

Well, a couple hours before my interview I had a total melt down! I had told a few people about my plan to interview for this department of the church and they all asked, "Uhhh do you know anything about Information Technology?" My answer was of course no, and I began to feel so inadequate and so under-qualified. I even got on the computer and logged onto the website where I signed up for the interview and came THIS CLOSE to cancelling it. I was so discouraged!

Well after a chat with my dear mom, I decided to go for it anyways and give it all I got. So I did. The interview went well, I applied for a Human Resource internship, something I'm very interested in. Towards the end of the interview I was told that they'd like to interview me further for this position, but I had to understand that this was a one-year internship. I'd have to leave school for one whole year. ONE YEAR! That didn't feel right to me, so I asked if there was another position I could apply for. He told me to think about my decision for a few days and to let him know if I'd like to continue on with the interview process for human resource. He then directed me to the man in charge of interviewing for project, product and process management (at the time I had no idea what any of that meant :) So I did another interview right then for those internship positions.

I left the interviews feeling ok, but not very hopeful. It was a good experience, but I realized how under qualified I was. Two weeks later I received a phone call from the church's hiring department. They told me that they had two hiring managers who each wanted a follow-up telephone interview with me. So I set them both up and interviewed for them later that week. Holla

The first interview was for project management. Let's just say that it was 50 of the most vigorous, intense minutes of my life. When I hung up the phone, I seriously collapsed on my bed out of sheer exhaustion. It was not child's play that's for sure. At the end of the interview I was told that he was very confident in my communication skills and how well I handled the stressful situations he put me in (we did a simulation) without letting emotion get in the way. He just worried about how little I knew about computer information technology. So he said he'd give me the next two weeks to learn as much as I could about CIT and then he'd call me back and interview me on it. My homework began that night and I have studied my guts out since then!

Five days later I had another interview with the same company, but a different hiring manager. This one was not as intense, and rather enjoyable. He went through my resume (he was impressed :) and we talked about some leadership experiences that I've been in. It was great!

Ten days later, yesterday, I received the phone call saying that I got the internship. I was seriously speechless when she was explaining things on the phone. I couldn't believe it! I was so overwhelmed and seriously just wanted to cry. I called my pops and told him post haste. My mom squealed :) I had four classes to attend right after that, and I couldn't tell you a single thing that was said in any of them. I was so side tracked. My mind was racing all day long.

So this is it! My dream is coming true! I'm deferring from school for the spring semester (this breaks my heart, but it must be done). I start the week right after I get home from Peru. I will be interning in Riverton, UT as a project manager. I'll be working 40 hours a week and making 2.5 times as much as I do now :)

My heart is so full of gratitude for these amazing experiences. I was so dreading turning 21 next month, but something tells me that this year will be one of the best I could ever imagine.

And since this post is so lengthy, I'll leave you a picture that's worth 1000 words:

This is me and my goober-FHE brothers. How I love them!

Thanks for listening :)

Love, Noelle

AwesomeAndAwkward: Work Edition

Heads up: I work at the Lost and Found Desk on campus

The following occur at my place of employment

awkward: the sweetheart of a boy who scours the campus for odds and ends to bring into the lost and found. usually they're bobbypins (which we throw away..shhh)
 
awesome: working every friday night, but not even being bummed about it because i get to work with Timber and Lyndi.

awkward: arriving to work after a grueling aerobics class... ehhhh

awesome: being able to blog and blogstalk while at work

awkward: the boy who comes in asking if we've found his swimsuit... a gold speedo

awesome: working with the greatest people ever

awkward: the poor boy who doesn't believe that we don't have his "black luminous sunglasses with two stripes down each side and lenses that are so reflective that they could serve dual purpose as mirrors." we've looked sir. you've looked. we don't have them. keep checking :)

awesome: the sheer joy etched on the faces of those who have been reunited with objects of utmost value to them.
 
awkward: the girl who comes by during every passing period to check if we've refilled our candy dish yet. can't say that I blame her :)

        Brief Photo Poll Intermission 

awkward or awesome? you be the judge.

 awesome: having one job that allows me to switch between three different desks/offices
 
awkward: a lost and found employee losing more stuff than the average BYU-I student.... whoops :)

awesome: the lost and found sale. seriously next friday 12-2. be there.
 
awkward: sitting at work and having a stranger (boy) serenade me with his guitar. as soon as he left, my boss simply says, "Precious" then walks away laughing

awesome: when friends stop by and chat 
 
awkward: having to figure out what to say when the following conversation transpires, (it happens at least once a week) :
me: how can i help you? boy (of which I've never before met):  i've lost something and was hoping you could help me find it. me: sure, what did you lose? boy: you're phone number      
i've yet to figure out a clever response to this, any suggestions would be most appreciated.

In any case, I looove my job. the awkward parts, the awesome parts. I love it all.
Good Night!


Love, Noelle

P.S. Hitch on a Thursday Night... awesome