settling in

Well, I'm finally here at the Y! I flew in on Monday (it was definitely a tearful goodbye at the entrance to security) and Timm met me at the Salt Lake City Airport. (I thought it was hilarious but logical that there were hoardes of missionaries everywhere in the airport terminals!) I crashed for a couple of days with Jessie and Timm, meaning they carted me around to everywhere I needed to go and watched movies with me. Wednesday was the big day and in the morning Jessie and Timm took me around campus, took me to buy my books, and helped me actually move in. Thanks guys--you're both amazing!

Moving in wasn't as crazy as I anticipated; the hallways were pretty much empty and it wasn't nearly as noisy as the movies always portray move in day at the dorms. My roommate didn't come yesterday, leading me to believe that she won't be coming until later this weekend since obviously she isn't attending orientation. Hence the anticipation of meeting the roommate will extend a few more days.

The rooms are bigger than I thought and I'm able to fit everything where it needs to go. I'm also a huge fan of the shared bathroom suite. I'm in the setup where two bedrooms share a bathroom. The other two girls (Katie from Texas and Jenna from Sandy, UT) in the sharing room are here and they're both nice; we've been hanging out a little, so it's nice to have hang out buddies.

Another bit of news: Timm in all his wonderfulness got me a job at the Physics/Astronomy Department! I be doing simple secretarial work, so nothing too exerting in any realm and it's conveniently located on campus! Well here are some pictures of my dorm to give you an idea of where I live now. I know I already emailed you guys some of them, but I thought posting them on the blog would be fun :) I'll keep you posted on all my first-weekend-happenings at BYU!

From top to bottom: two views of my closet, (right and left), my desk, my bed

Sorry I haven't figured out yet how to rotate the pictures!

mellow birthday

Well yesterday was my 19th birthday--weird! Last year I had more of a plan of what I wanted to do and so on and so forth, but this year it was just kind of nice to kick back and have more of a mellow day. I slept in, ate a bowl of Froot Loops, went to Borders, dozed during a movie, played some Sudoko, and just hung out. The weather was perfect! It was cloudy and rainy all day which was a fantastic birthday present from Mother Nature!

We were going to go up to the mountains and have a cookout for my birthday dinner, but we looked at the weather forecast on Friday and decided that maybe dinner in the rain might not be such a stellar idea! I decided to have the Wood/Petersen classic of roast, mashed potatoes, and gravy for my birthday dinner and my final dinner before I leave tomorrow! AH! In addition to my family (including Grandma and Grandpa), Melissa, Jacquelyn, Rachelle, and Mark all came, which resulted in a fun and pleasant evening. The cake was (as usual) amazing and I was very full come the end of the evening.

The presents received goes as follows:

• a digital camera (my main present and one about which I'm very excited!)
• cute nail polish colors in a cute bag
• really good tweezers (I think only girls could understand the coolness of that gift)
• super cute file folders
• the game "Imaginiff"
• a sparkly dry erase board
• a sweet toy sports car
• Bounce dryer sheets and a roll of quarters
• a pink and black laptop case that looks like a super chic purse
• a free haircut and color (total score, especially as I'm going to school!)

It was a very satisfying birthday overall and I think one of the reasons I kept it so low key was because I really just wanted a nice day at home before I go. This whole summer has been crazy and busy and helter-skelter, so it was the ultimate present to just be able to kick it at home.

Tonight we're having a donut night as a farewell bash and then I'm going to finish my packing and psyche myself up for tomorrow. I can't believe that 24 hours from now I'll be there; it's such a weird feeling. I helped Rachelle move into her dorm last week and it was just a weird feeling for me. The past few days my emotions have gone in waves of really excited and really nervous. I think the excitement and nervous levels are about equal. I'm not as teary-eyed about this whole experience as more just feeling sick to my stomach sometimes. I'm definitely not thinking "I don't want to go to school," but I am trying to juggle the anxiety, impending homesickness, and excitement, resulting in a really weird funk. I've been pretty mellow the past couple of days and I think it's just my way of dealing with the whole thing. Instead of getting all stressed out and upset, I take a step back and take a really deep breath.

Well, I'm off to donuts and the airport. I'll post an update of the goodbyes, the flight, and the whole moving process when I get a moment. Oh, and I'll be able to post pictures of everything with my super cool new camera!

LAST DAY!

Today is my last day as a Wamulian! Ever since I found out I wouldn't be able to work at the Provo branch I've been antsy to be finished. Now my last day is finally here I'm really excited, but I'm also sad to be leaving most of my co-workers. I get along really well with almost all of them and we always have a great time talking and hanging out when things get slow. *sigh* Once again it's that bittersweet feeling.

So yesterday I had a little freak out moment. I was going over my flight information with Timm and we were working out where he'd meet me and where we're going to pick up my other boxes etc., and when we finished he said "Okay, see you Monday"--ah! It's really weird to hear it put like that. I know it's true and I know that this time next week I'll be moving into my room, but it's still weird to hear that all the same.

Yesterday was a great shopping day! I raided the Gap outlet and bought a new pair of jeans, two new tops, and a camisole. Score! I like the Gap better than Old Navy because 1) the clothing quality is better and 2) the outlet prices are about the same as Old Navy's prices. The only downside is that the outlet has a little less selection than the Old Navy across the street, so I figure I can alternate between stores.

Well, there's not too much more minutiae to report so I'll sign off for the time being!

Crest Whitening Strips

Ever since I was little I've had these tiny calcium deposits on my teeth and they're not bad, they just don't look awesome. A couple of years ago my dentist recommended I use the Crest Whitening strips to get rid of them and this was when the whitening strip idea was brand new. These whitening strips are so weird. You're supposed to put on a top strip and a bottom strip for half an hour twice a day (but using them twice a day made my teeth too sensitive, so I only use them once a day or every other day). The strips are these thin pieces of plastic coated on one side with this strange gel-like substance. When they go on, they wrap around the bottom of your teeth and go onto the back side to keep the strip in place. The first couple of times I was really taken aback because I didn't realize the gel squeezes out easily, making for quite a disgusting taste in your mouth. The strips also have a hard time staying in place; they either slide from side to side or up and down. When you're wearing them you talk with a funny lisp and can't really ennunciate your words. I started using them again a couple of weeks ago because the calcium deposits came back and I like having white teeth, but I've definitely come to the conclusion that I hate them. They taste bad, they feel weird, and they make my teeth hurt. The only and certainly major redeeming factor is that they work. My teeth really are whiter and I guess the sensitivity, bad taste, and strangeness of it all is a worthy price to pay for white teeth. My teeth better stay white for 12 months like Crest guarantees or else . . .

Fun Day

I can't believe it's already the middle of the week! How does time fly by so quickly?! Well, yesterday I had the day off which was fantastic! I had a productive morning with cleaning my part of the bathroom, vacuuming the basement, discovering a water bubble in Mom's bathroom ceiling which is traced to water leaking through the old grout in our bathroom, and eating a bowl of Kix. In the late morning Mark picked me up and we went all the way down to Flatirons Mall and did a little shopping (his idea by the way--total score!) I unfortunately didn't have much money, but it was fun to browse. I found a great pair of jeans though! We had lunch in the food court, which I think is a lot of fun. I don't know why I find eating in the food court such a pleasant experience, but I guess I can trace it back to when I was little. It was always a treat when we got to eat a hot dog in the food court because we didn't have "mall days" too often. The food court was for more special occasions when the mall trip became the central event in the day. Yesterday I enjoyed sweet and sour pork over mixed vegetables and steamed rice from the Panda Express.

My favorite part of the mall trip though was the rendezvous inside Borders. I love that store! Once again I had no money, but I always find it fun to browse. I found one of my family's favorite BBC shows, "Monarch of the Glen," on DVD which I haven't seen in any stores, so that was an exciting find!

After the mall we headed back to Mark's house where we watched an episode of Monk, played some Rummikub (spelling?), hung out for a bit. We had dinner at my house (mmm: pork tenderloin, green beans, red potatoes, and homemade wheat bread) and then watched a movie Mark brought over, "The End of the Spear." I'd never seen the movie before and I thought it was really good! So I'd say that yesterday was a successful fun day!

So now that I've had a good fun day, I'll devote some more time to getting things together for school and all the odds and ends associated with that!

college countdown

Two weeks from today I fly out to Salt Lake City. This is definitely weird for me. It seems like this summer has flown by and yet at the same time everything that happened seems like it was so long ago. Graduation seems like ages ago, the week when Mom and Emily were in Charleston feels like it was last year, and now before I know it, it's time to start school again. The kids start school a couple of weeks before I do and that's weird to think they only have one week left.

I need to finish packing up my stuff, but I think I'll wait until next week because most of the stuff I'm packing now I need and I'd rather not live out of a suitcase for the next two weeks. Rachelle and I are having a party tonight for the end of the summer and to see everyone off before they go to school, the Best of EFY program is this Saturday, my last day of work is next week, my birthday is a week from Saturday, donut night is the night after that, and then I leave. I'm more excited than sad or nervous right now, but I definitely expect that to change come the morning of August 28.

Emily and Mom just finished painting the room last week and it's still in an organized form of chaos (if there is such a thing) with a bunch of junk under my bed that I don't really intend on fixing until I leave. There's a few things that go on my wall that Mom doesn't want to put back up yet because they don't know what they're going to do with the furniture so I just have all this stuff under my bed that I don't know what to do with, so my plan is just to leave it there and take what I need when I finish packing.

I can't believe my last day as a Wamulian is a week from Wednesday! Unfortunately I'm in that mentality where you know you're done after a certain day and you can't wait, so consequently the days preceding that last day are somewhat painful because you know you won't be there much longer. I working a bunch this week and I need the money, but that doesn't make the time fly by any faster. On top of sheer impatience I'm feeling, I have so many other things I need/rather be doing. Good grief, I know I only have two more weeks and I want them to fly and drag all at the same time. I want the time to pass quickly (which I know it will) because I'm just impatient right now. I hate it that impatience is in my inherent nature. I want the time to drag (which I know it won't) because I know that this is basically it and I want to soak it all in before I go. It's so weird having so many conflicting feelings all at the same time.

morning cocoa

My grandmother frequently iterates that "we all have our idiosyncrasies" (I know what a cool word!) and one of mine is that I love hot cocoa all year round, not just in the winter. Whenever I work in the mornings (which is most of the time during the summer) around 9:30 or 10 I head over to the Starbucks inside the Safeway next door and pay $2.69 for a grande hot chocolate. One of the best parts about this deal is that for every 7 Starbucks beverages you purchase, you get the 8th one free! Score!

In the summer I'll only drink hot cocoa in an air conditioned place. I'd never drink a heated beverage in our oven house, but I have no problem downing a hot chocolate in the Washington Mutual or in the Starbucks or Peaberry's. My favorite place to get hot chocolate in Peaberry's (a local coffee chain), but alas the one closest to my house was bought out by Starbucks and despite my grudge against the Starbucks monopoly for that very reason, I continue to buy the grande hot chocolate. Go figure.

I usually only make hot chocolate at my house during the winter and my preferred brand is the Nestle kind. The best way to have the Nestle hot cocoa though is with CoffeeMate Vanilla creamer added, that way you get the chocolate and vanilla taste which really pleases the tastebuds :) What I like about hot cocoa is that it can fill you up enough to last you until lunch so your stomach doesn't perform acrobats and make strange gurgling sounds.

I think my cocoa fixation came from a combination of Rachelle and early morning seminary. Rachelle had this phase junior year where she would have Peaberry's hot cocoa multiple times a day and whenever we went out we would get some. Her brief obsession served as an introduction for me into the wonderous world of hot chocolate. Another factor contributing to my love of hot cocoa is that Peaberry's (before it morphed into yet the 4th Starbucks in a mile radius) was directly on the way from the seminary building to school. Emily and I would frequently stop by Peaberry's on chilly mornings and get some hot cocoa to start the school day off right (but wait that's what seminary is for, right? Ha, good one!)

Some may think it strange I drink cocoa all year round, but my philosophy is that people don't think it's weird if someone drinks coffee all year round, even in the summer, so why then should it be weird if I drink hot cocoa even in the summer? Now I have by no means a hot cocoa addiction like those people whose bodies require coffee to wake them up, but the hot chocolate is definitely a nice beginning to the work day.

So that is one of my many idiosyncrasies and if I tried to document them all, this would be a novel-length post and then some. What are some of your idiosyncrasies?

***

I answered the phone a couple of minutes ago and I always answer the work phone: "Thank you for calling Washington Mutual this is Charlotte. How can I help you?" but frequently, no matter how much I ennuciate or speak at an understandable pace, many people still think I say my name is Sarah. Sarah is the name of one of our Spanish-speaking tellers and so today (only one example of something that happens often) this girl called me Sarah and then started going off speaking rapid Spanish that of course I didn't understand. I clarified who I was again and said "No, my name is Charlotte," but she kept on speaking Spanish and so I quickly put her on hold and transferred the call to the real Sarah's desk. I find it funny/frustrating when people think I'm someone else but then I get bombarded by a language I don't know and I can't communicate to them that I'm not the person they think I am and it just seems a vicious circle until I tranfer the call. Good grief.

no longer a Wamulian

Well I heard from the Provo branch today and they decided to go with one of the full time candidates. I can't exactly say I'm surprised because that's what the position specified, but I just wish I hadn't gone this far only to be rejected. So as of my last day at my current branch, August 23, I will be unemployed for the first time in over two years. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do for the upcoming school year. I'll look into other banks around Provo and some potential office jobs. Ideally I'd rather not work at all at least for a semester, but financially I don't think that's really an option. I'm so used to receiving a paycheck every other week and becoming accustomed to not having that biweekly flow of income will be difficult.

I am very disappointed but I keep reminding myself of Mom's job story. When she was newly married she applied for a job at the BYU Bookstore for which she was the perfect candidate, but she didn't get the job and went to a boring receptionist position elsewhere that ended up being an excellent job that gave her more opportunities than the Bookstore job would have. So trying to be optimistic here, I'm relying heavily on faith that something else will work out for me. Emily is always fasting and praying for work opportunities and she miraculously always finds money when she needs it, so I'll try the same tactics and see where I end up. One of my favorite scriptures says:

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow and toil not, neither do they spin:
and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, o ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat?, or What shall we drink?, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Matthew 6:28-34

So wish me luck on my job search and I'll try to maintain an upbeat and optimistic attitude about this. Do any of you Utah residents know of any banks around Provo or potential office jobs or any other kind of job worth looking into?

you're it!

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Babysitter
2. Mailing/Office Assistant
3. Nanny
4. Teller

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Pride and Prejudice (A&E)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Kiera Knightly)
3. That Thing You Do!
4. Beauty and the Beast

Four Places I Have Lived:
1. Provo, UT
2. Philadelphia, PA
3. Lakewood, CO
4. grandma's house

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. 24
2. Gilmore Girls
3. American Idol
4. Law and Order

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
1. Florida (Ft. Lauderdale and Disney World!)
2. Steamboat Springs
3. Alberta, Canada
4. my basement watching movies

Four Websites I Visit (almost) Daily:
1. wamu.net
2. msn homepage
3. Jessie's blog
4. Michelle's blog

Four of My Favorite Foods:
1. chocolate ice cream!
2. peanut butter toast
3. McDonald's soft serve
4. parmesean chicken

Five Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. home with my family (home meaning basement and not kitchen!)
2. with Rachelle
3. with Mark
4. Disney World (maybe not in July though)
5. Borders

All right it's your turn now! I know Jessie and Michelle have done this on their blogs before and I don't know if they've already done this one, but Emily just sent it to me so I thought I'd have fun with it! Post you're responses either in your comments or on your own blog!

tidbits

The past couple of days contained nothing of too much import, just little bits of life, so here's a quick listing of semi-interesting happenings:

• I had my phone interview with the Provo branch on Monday and they said they'd get back to me after they interviewed two more people. I felt good about the interview--I just hope everything comes through!
• Over the weekend I found these really cool boxes made especially for holding CDs and DVDs. The colors match my colors for my dorm and were only $6 for three boxes at Hell-Mart (aka Wal-Mart, Purgatory in a building)
• Yesterday I got my room placement and got the name of my new roommate. Her name is Brittany Watkins from California. I emailed her and have yet to hear back, but I'd sure like to get to know her a little before I move out there.
• I cleaned our front door yesterday and so it looks absolutely fantastic! No more cobwebs!

Well I can't think of anything else worthy of reporting, so I'll check out and blog again when I have something more interesting to write.