Ferocious Fans

This is a slightly more difficult post to write, mainly because it's bashing the school I attend.  And I don't want it to come off in a really negative way - I'm just explaining what I've noticed here compared to what I was used to.

Utah State fans are brutal.  It's that simple. I remember the first basketball game I attended last semester.  I was horrified with how they acted at the end of the game, when we beat the opposing team.  They made chants about their rivals sucking, being losers, that they should go home.  I was embarrassed.  We also know that the President of USU issued a formal apology to BYU after a basketball game that included some rather inappropriate signage.  It's a little humiliating to be known as the school that has the nasty fans, especially when I came from an opposite situation.

Nebraska is known for having some of the best fans.  That's because we don't make crude signs, we don't yell demeaning things to the players, we don't make fools of ourselves (unless it's after the game and people go running around Lincoln like hooligans after ingesting post-win beverages).  The only time I've heard fans boo is when the refs make a bad call.  They don't boo at specific players.  That's horrible sportsmanship.  So when I went to the first USU game, I was stunned.  I couldn't believe how rude some of the fans were being.  Since, then I've only attended one other game.  Not because I don't like my school, or I don't like cheering on my team.  But because the environment is uncomfortable.  I've always been taught to be nice to others.

Sorry, USU.  But your fans are not nice. 

Passionate for Plates

Recently, the registration on my car had to be renewed. Since it is in my parents' names still, they reregistered it back in Nebraska and sent me the stickers.  It was the first time we'd had to reregister it since moving here (the first time they just sent whole new plates) and I was panicky.  

Roger claimed they require an inspection every 2 years in Nebraska, and since my time was up, I'd just have to register my Jeep in Utah.  I ignored him and put it off until I could validate this with my mom. 

Not more than a month later, my registration stickers arrived in the mail.  Apparently, Nebraska doesn't require inspections.  Once you get it passed the first time, you're good to go forever.  

My dad had told my mom that I should just register the Jeep in Utah.  My mom, bless her heart, knew better.

"Chelsea's not going to want to do that, Eric.  Those Nebraska plates are the last thing she has to remember home by."

And alas, I still have my homestate plates on my Jeepy.

Football Frenzy

I learned (when, I don't know) that BYU and Nebraska will actually go head-to-head in the 2015 football season.  Because BYU is a private institution, they can play whoever they want.  Why they decided to play Nebraska is beyond me.  The thought of this is both thrilling and terrifying.

This past weekend was slightly depressing with USU losing to BYU.  Because obviously, no Aggie wants to lose to the 'zoo.'  While it is crappy, it's not my home state losing against BYU.  That just cannot happen.

My older cousins, aunts, and uncles all went to LDS universities.  Like I said, I'm the first one in the family to not attend a church school.  I still have one cousin at BYU.  She will be graduated by the time the Huskers and the Cougars play, but that doesn't mean she won't be rubbing it in my face if we lose.

My dad also went to BYU.  When I asked him who he planned to cheer for during that game, his answer was simple: "I've been a Husker longer than I was a Cougar."

Amen, Papa. Amen.

I guess that would sort of be like USU playing the Huskers.  While I love USU, and always will, Nebraska is my home and I'm required to always root for my red- and white-clad boys.    

Homecoming Horrors

I saw some news clip over the weekend about how there were girls turned away from their homecoming dances because their dresses were "too short."

Let me preface this by saying that I am LDS, so I know about the whole "modesty" thing.  I was raised in the Mormon faith and have known about the book "For Strength of Youth" that the church put out as a guideline for teens since I was 12.  One of the "guidelines" talked about is modesty - viewing one's body as a temple and to not defile it.  This includes wearing modest clothing.  'Modest,' in the church's eyes, is clothing that covers one's shoulders, doesn't show the bare back, keeps the girls inside the shirt, and reaches to the knees in length (shorts, dresses, etc).  Basically what the church is doing is preparing youth for when they further their covenants with the Lord and start wearing garments (the 'holy underwear' as people say).  I know people who have even gone as far as to not let their infants wear sundresses as they don't follow those guidelines (but we won't get started on that...).

Me, the disobedient one, at my senior prom without sleeves

My sister, Whitney, being obedient with sleeves

My point is this - you know I grew up in Nebraska.  Nebraska is not Utah, certainly not Provo.  Finding dresses that covered our shoulders for dances was extremely hard.  And looking online wasn't helpful either.  Most 'modest' LDS dresses are, frankly, hideous.  So my mom let me wear sleeveless dresses to my homecoming and prom occasions.  The dresses were always appropriate length, and were otherwise modest, just minus the sleeves.  This was a decision I made and my parents were okay with it.  My clothing other than these occasions followed these guidelines.  I always made sure my dresses were modest for church and I covered myself properly for school.  My sister has tried hard to remain within the church's guidelines and has been lucky enough to find dresses throughout high school that have sleeves and are not frumpy. 

To imagine someone being turned away in Nebraska for a short dress is unfathomable.  Most of the girls looked like they should be standing on some street corner in Vegas.  They just didn't care.  No one cared.  I was one of 3 people in my high school who was LDS (one other being my sister).  We did what we could to follow the church's guidelines but sometimes there were occasions where we had to compensate.  Am I ashamed?  Nope.  I was a young, teenage girl.  I was in high school. I wasn't wearing garments and one night without a dress with sleeves wasn't going to corrupt me.  

I realize that a large majority of the Utah population is Mormon (dur).  That being said, I'm still shocked at the way the high schools reacted.  This wasn't that the dress was barely covering their butts.  This was that the dresses were TWO INCHES ABOVE THE KNEE CAP.  The horror!!

I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous.  And I'm Mormon.  Sigh, sometimes people are too stuffy for their own good.

I saw my breath this morning.

This isn't the first time it's happened so far this fall season, but today I took particular notice to it.  Maybe it was because it was 30-some-odd degrees out when I biked to class and I wasn't wearing a coat.  You tend to notice how cold it is when you don't wear a coat.  

But this led me to thinking about winter.  And how it is quickly approaching.  And how I overheard some people talking a couple weeks back about how miserable it was here in Logan last winter.

Erm.  Apparently, having an average temperature of 40 during the WINTER is miserable to some people.  I find it fabulous.  Like shorts weather.  Not to mention, it hardly snowed last winter.  I hope it snows ten feet for them so they're not disappointed.

Because Utah is so dry, winters here are fairly mild compared to what I was used to.  Not exactly sure how to describe it, but winters in Nebraska are worse than here.  Sure, we get the same amount of snow and it gets very cold there.  But something about the Nebraska air makes winters there awful.  Here, I can step outside in pajamas and snow boots to take my dog potty at 3am and be fine.  You can't do that in the Midwest.  The air is so cold, I swear it freezes you right down to your bones.  It takes forever to get warm after being outside.  And the wind!  Oh, the wind is brutal.  It just hurts!  Blizzards are very common, along with 10 foot drifts along the road.

One thing Utah doesn't have as much as Nebraska is wind chill factor.  Though it might be 25 degrees outside, it's so windy during the winter that most days include a wind chill of 20+ degrees.  That takes it down to 5.  5 degrees outside.

Yeah, that's a little cold.