Hiding
So, I promise that I wasn't hiding on purpose. It just happened that way. December was good and busy. Finals weren't too bad, and I passed all of my classes. I think I only got one B and the rest were A's. Yay for me!!

Going home was wonderful for me. I love Idaho. I love the state, I think it's beautiful (yes, beautiful - sagebrush, desert, and all). I had been praying for weeks that the weather would cooperate and my drive would be good. And it was. The freeway was pretty empty of traffic, even in Salt Lake, and was dry everywhere except for a little bit of slush on the Malad pass. I even got to play a little trick on my family. Originally I was going to be leaving in the afternoon and arriving in the evening, but events came about that made it possible for me to leave in the morning. Well, when it came pretty close to the time I would have been leaving I called and talked to Sarah (aka Goob) and told her I was "on the road". I was very careful in my wording to not actually lie to her. Silly as it is, I even don't like lying in circumstances like those. Her phone was about to die, so she had to go, believing me to still be three and a half hours away. My parents were a different story. I had to break out the lying tongue with them. They asked direct questions! What was I supposed to do? :) So, they too fell for my deception. In all reality I was actually just crossing the border into Idaho, giving me only, at most, a couple of hours before I'd arrive. They were all pleasantly surprised when I showed up early, and I was glad to be there.

The two weeks at home seemed to fly by. The first week it snowed so much, and there was so much drifting, that venturing out seemed nigh unto impossible. My car even got completely snowed over (I'm talking fully buried) overnight. Crazy.

Goob had the week off, so we got to hang out quite a bit. We even took an outing with Mom and Matt. We went to see Twilight. Goob and I had already seen it, but we wanted to go together. And we thought, the more the merrier, right! It was fun for all, and the roads were quite cooperative, so we had fun. Mom was in a cast. She had gotten her ankle fused a few weeks before, and would be in the cast for several more weeks, so it was really good to have Matt there to help get her in and out of the car.

There were so many people that I wanted to see when I was there, but I didn't get to see all of them. I spent time with Wayne and Jamie and the kids (they like me to stay at least a night with them when I'm visiting), my Aunt Alice (Dad's only full sister), Grandma and Grandpa Butikofer, and an old friend from high school Alice Hinck (whom I hadn't seen since she got married about three years ago). I really wanted to stop in and see cousin Teri (I really did!!), but time did not permit (don't you worry, though... I'll be home soon, and in no time you'll be plenty sick of me!)

So, time ran out and I had to come back down to school. I came this time, though, with the knowledge that it would only be four more months and then I'd be free. FREE AT LAST!!!! My first week back I started to really notice that my head was not being nice to me. I should probably explain that statement. For those of you that might not know, I have a chronic condition called pseudotumor cerebrai. What happens is that, for reasons the doctors don't know, the membrane surrounding my brain doesn't absorb my cerebral spinal fluid as fast as it's produced which causes pressure to build up inside my skull. I was diagnosed two months before I left on my mission. I was put on medication that slowed the production of fluid in my brain. That kept it in check and I was able to do what I needed to do, but there were side effects that made things complicated - confusion, nausea, fatigue, lack of appetite, disoreintation, and several other tweaks to my nervous system. Several months after I got home from my mission, and just as I moved down to Utah, the condition went into remission and has remained that way for the past four years.

There. You've been caught up. Where was I? Oh, yes - head not being nice to me. I was prone to headaches and migranes as it was, and got them quite frequently, but I could tell there was something else going on with my head. Little by little I came to recognize that it felt like pressure was building up. I tried to ignore it for a week, but I finally broke down and spent a day in doctor's offices only to be told that it was back. Sigh... I was put back on the medication and life has been a bit of a rollercoaster since then. My body did not take to the meds very quickly, which is something I'm sure happened last time that I just don't remember. Last time I had to adjust to the meds I was at home with nothing to do. This time I have 12 credits of university classes for my last semester before graduating... A bit different. And yet, God has been so kind to me. My professors have been so kind and understanding and patient. This is my semester of Hebrew, with Readings of Biblical Hebrew (translating a chapter of Exodus every night for class), Modern Hebrew Literature (100 pages of the book we're reading due for each class period - thankfully the book is in English, but the discussion is in Hebrew, and I'm rusty), Senior Seminar (my Linguistics capstone in which I'm supposed to be reading a professional linguistical article every day), and Judaism and the gospel (for which, as I'm sure you can guess, there is also plenty of reading). At first it was so hard to keep my eyes open, let alone focus on something long enough to read it, let alone Hebrew! But I've gotten so much better. My body has adjusted and I've made changes that have helped and, as I said, my professors have been so good.

Another wonderful blessing that God has given me are my Fridays. Originally I was slated to have a class at 9 AM every Friday, but the teacher doesn't hold class that day. So I have Fridays to myself to catch up on homework (theoretically) and to rest (which is usually what really happens). The week tires me out so quickly, I have very limited energy, that the extra day of rest is heaven sent. Literally.

And yet another blessing is my dear Shelle. Not only is she just a wonderful friend who knows me so well and loves me still, but also she knows exactly how to handle this particular situation I'm in. She's always ready to laugh along with me at the silly, ridiculous things that I say and do because of the medication I'm on. She not serious and grim, but lighthearted and happy. Of course she sympathizes, but most of the time she just laughs with me. Another evidence of how much God loves me.

My latest struggle has been the overcast weather here in Provo. My head is sensitive enough to pressure that when there is a storm, which makes the air heavier, I feel it. I'm having some problems with my vision - getting gray spots in my peripherals - that walking around and reading can be... tricky. But I think it will pass.

Also, the only person in my family that is aware of my current state of health is my dear little sisty ugler. Sarah is too persistant and got it out of me. But I don't want my parents to know. There's nothing they can do to help me, and they'd just worry themselves and bug me needlessly. If they ask me, I'll tell them, but I'm volunteering nothing... So, for those of you that could let anything slip (you know who you are...) zip the lip or sink the ship!

I will try to be better about posting (I know - promises, promises), and I really am doing pretty well, so don't worry! I'm a tough kid. :) I'll see ya on the flip side. :)