What You Should Know About Rexburg: Take Two

Took you guys a little while to get some questions out there, but I think I now have enough to work with. Many thanks, dear followers.

Is there a health food/whole food organic type of grocery store near BYUI?

The only place I can think of in Rexburg that is along the lines of a health food store is Nature's Nook. This place is tucked away behind the Subway on N 2nd E (the one with the drive-thru and the coolest employees) and sort of by K-Mart. I've only been in there once and it was awhile ago, but from what I remember they've only got dry goods, so if you're looking for organic fruits and vegetables (which, nutritionally speaking, are no different than non-organic produce yet fiscally speaking statistically more expensive) you're going to have to either settle for what you find at Broulims or Albertson's. Or go to Idaho Falls. Sorry, kids. What I know Nature's Nook does have: bags of dried herbs and spices. Seriously, they have a huge bag of poppy seeds for $11 or something like that. Poppy seeds are expensive and that's an awesome price. Poppy seed muffins for everyone!

As far as other grocery shopping, most people shop at Broulims. It's expensive, but it's not as expensive as Albertson's, although Alberson's has better produce than Broulims. Actually, I'm pretty sure any grocery store has better produce than Broulims. In my opinion, the produce at WinCo makes the drive out to Idaho Falls worth it. Most of what I buy at WinCo is produce and then I chow down on fruits and vegetables until my heart's content. 

Is finding a job easy?

No. Let me tell you a story.

Toward the end of Fall semester 2011 I started hurting for money pretty badly. I knew that I could either go home during the coming winter semester, my off track, and work at a job out in California or I could stay in Rexburg with my friends and get a job in town. I started filling out applications for every place in town at the beginning of November, got one interview, nothing resulted. I ended up staying in Rexburg because my gut told me that I would be better off there than in California, even if I had no money, wasn't in school, and was unemployed. I continue to apply for jobs, calling to follow up on my applications. Nothing. 

Out of the blue toward the end of February I finally got an interview with a restaurant in town that had kept my application from November and finally decided to call me. I walked away from the interview with a job, which was validating and awesome, but at the same time I was pretty bummed that it took almost FOUR months of constant job hunting to find a job.

Moral of the story: It's not easy to find a job in Rexburg. However, good things come to those who persist. Finding a job here isn't easy, but it's possible. And if all else fails, there's always Progrexion.

What activities can help me meet new people and make new friends?

• The Ward-One of my favorite places to make new friends is in my ward. I have a pretty spectacular ward and it's got a lot of new people in it. My roommates and I leave our door open and people just walk in and suddenly we have new friends in the ward. I went to ward prayer last night and ended up at someones apartment playing games until midnight with a bunch of really fun guys and gals. It was such a blast. 
• Activities on Campus-Have you ever been Country Dancing? Latin Dancing? Horseback riding? Played battleship in a canoe in a huge pool? Sometimes I forget that the school has some really fun activities! Take a look at the activities page and see what piques your interest. Make it a goal to get out there and do some of those activities. Make sure you introduce yourself and get to know someone new while you're out having fun!
• In class! I used to think it was obnoxious when people would talk to me in class. I figured I was in class to learn (sort of) and as obligation to my status as a college student, not to make friends. However, I made some of the best friends of my college career last semester and they were in my classes. As soon as I got over myself I ended up talking to the people that I sat around every single day and I made friends. And they're awesome.

Basically you just need to get out there and meet people in any way you can. Maybe you need to try doing things you wouldn't normally do. Maybe you need to practice getting out of your comfort zone. Maybe you need to smile at people and strike up conversations. Get out there! Don't sit in your apartment waiting for something to happen, be the something to happen to someone else!

Which apartment complexes are the most down to earth?

I went into a bit of detail in my previous post about Rexburg  as far as complexes go, and not much has changed except now The Willows is open, which is yet another place for the stuck-up girls to go to. Also, I recently spent a bit of time over at Baronessa and I realized that the girls there are freaking rad. Of course you get your socially awkward ones, weird ones, and annoying ones, but you get them everywhere you go. You can't escape the different groups of people because every complex has it's own groups and not all of them are likable.

Well, that's it, folks. I've got homework I need to finish. 

Enjoy!