Another Winter Semester in the Books!

I took my last final exam for the Winter 2014 semester today and needless to say, this semester was hell! I had a rough start in January and even though things smoothed out as time went on, it was a few of my classes that kept me on my toes, but if there's a silver-lining to that, it's that it stretched my learning and thoughts beyond a few limits. I never said I was good at this "college stuff," at least not just yet... But I'm proud to say I finished the semester strong with final grades being one B and the rest A's; I must have done SOMETHING right. Well, to celebrate, I ate the following at my favorite in-land Japanese/Asian-fusion restaurant here in Rexburg, Da Pineapple Grill:

Yep, you guessed it: Sushi. And I just needed a light lunch today as well.

The plan now is to check out of my apartment for the semester tomorrow and drive home for a couple of days soon after; to be honest, I've been more homesick than usual and kind of longing for home since coming back out here so it'll be good to be home for a few days... I think that's the case because of what happened among our family last year when we had to cope with the deaths of my uncle (in which a year has already passed since) and more recently, my grandmother... The only reason I can think of regarding why this year has been tougher for me than usual is because I've started holding onto my family relationships a lot tighter in the wake of last year's events; I'm just a little bit more emotional about family and it's just a little bit tougher for me now being away from home. Other than that, I'm at a loss of words as to the "why." But I suppose what I'm feeling is natural. But I had fun this past semester as well because I got to spend time good friends:

Friends, roommates, former roommates, friends of roommates, it's just nice to have friends, new and old.

And this being Winter Semester, the weather wasn't so bad because this winter was pretty mild by my standards and I usually gauge that by how much "winter" driving time I got in; we got quite a few good days that were cold but no snow. The only thing that threw me off was snow on April Fools Day, which mind you is AFTER the first official day of spring:

Cruelest April Fools joke ever! But then again, Mother Nature was always a cruel and sadistic *****...

Well, I got another semester on my belt and it's time to push forward. But first, it'll be a well deserved week off.