last week festivities

It's my last week in Provo. Ever. And while I haven't been feeling all that nostalgic, I do have friends I've been wanting to spend some time with before I skip town.

Monday I left work with Emily McB (who works as an editorial intern with the welfare department), and we went to Zupas for dinner and caught Letters to Juliet at the dollar theater. The movie was mindlessly enjoyable, and the male lead was a dream boat. I don't think I would have paid full price for it, but for $1.25 it was perfect. Emily and I managed to sneak in Cold Stone ice cream (though I was more full from my ultimate grilled cheese than I realized and could eat only a few bites of the ice cream).

We left wondering why we hadn't been doing stuff like this for the past three years. We have long-term plans for her to move to Washington, where we'd be only an hour and a half apart. Let's hope that pans out.

Last night I went to Cafe Rio with Brooke, Laura, and Kat. Brooke has been wonderful all summer in letting me use her car almost whenever I need to, and so I wanted to take her out in appreciation.

Afterward we went back to the apartment and played a few rounds of Bananagrams.

Tonight we might pop in a scary movie in continuation of our scary movie night last week when we watched When a Stranger Calls (ridiculous and simultaneously terrifying).

Yes, I'm 100-percent ready to leave Provo for a long, long time, but I will miss my friends. I'm so glad my last week has been full of fun (and delicious food)!

hiatus over

So I'm back in the world, much to the chagrin of my lounging-lover self. I actually missed my last first day of class to stay in Colorado for my grandpa's 90th birthday. So I got back in town this afternoon, unpacked, made a grocery list, took down my little Christmas tree, and went up to campus for the one class that I could make today. Then I bought my books and headed back to my apartment for an easy night in.

And then I realized: I started my last semester of school ever. Ever. 

It still hasn't really sunk in.

Holla! Back in the House

I'm officially back in Provo. . . .

• I love my apartment,
• But I don't know any of my roommates.
• I had a blast all weekend with my parents and sister,
• But it was really hard to say goodbye last night.
• I'm still recovering from surgery,
• But I didn't have to lift anything while moving in.
• I depleted my bank account,
• But I have a flat of Diet Pepsi under my desk.
• I had fun putting away all my fun new kitchen stuff I got for my birthday,
• But still need to blog about my birthday.
• Mine and Emily's car bit the dust on the way to Utah,
• But . . . I can see no upside to this.
  
• I have church at 11:50, so it's technically morning,
• But still.
  

I'll give a more thorough update of my week--birthday, road trip, ugly tablecloth, phantom roommates and all--soon.

Really? No Way.

I can't believe the summer is almost over. Do I really go back to Provo in three weeks? Seriously? I can't believe it. And what's the most mind-blowing is how much this summer has not gone as I thought it would. Instead of going to work everyday, dying in a sauna house, and living the single life, I've been involved in friends' weddings, dealing with limited employment and the financial ramifications of that, enjoying an air conditioned house for the first time, trying to figure out my oh-so-painful ovaries, inexplicably losing weight (because of previously mentioned illness, I'm thinking), watching multiple episodes of Bones a week, and excessively texting a boy.

It's been a good summer, just a different one from what I expected. And now it's almost over. For real.

I'm excited for this next school year; I mean, it's my last one. I want to make it a good one (all my college school years have been overall good). I love being an English major; I love being a hideous editor; I love apartment living (granted, roommates can be fodder for frustration on occasion); I love it that BYU allows me to create myself.

But the summer has gone fast. And while I'm ready for school and excited for Provo, I'm never quite ready to leave home.

weekend miscellany

My weekend in review:

• I was reunited with my Chicago Manual of Style. We were meant to be. Thanks ELang 410 for giving me another chance with my one true love: commas.
• I started reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves for the first time (if you can believe I haven't read it yet--I mean, it's a whole book dedicated to punctuation). Favorite phrases and clauses include "satanic sprinkling of redundant apostrophes" and "anger [over egregious punctuation errors] gives way to a righteous urge to perpetrate an act of criminal damage with the aid of a permanent marker."
  

• The fridge froze at least three of my eggs. Frozen eggs=weird, no?
• I watched the new episode of "Monk" at Brooke's after we watched a whole disc of season one at my apartment. Picture freezer!! Picture go regular!!
  
• I went to my first ever BYU dance. Granted, it was only for half an hour, but I met up with my friend Brennen there and we had fun partying it up.
  
  

• Emily hiked the Y: this is a picture of the Y when Emily was on it. Kudos, Em!
  

• I helped Katie purge her closet. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you to throw out stuff. I learned that from Mom.
• Lunch at Katelyn's on Saturday: Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese, just like the old days.
  

• Emily came over Saturday night and we went to Smith's and watched "Sliding Doors" afterward.
  
• Saturday, there was a banana pancake party at Katelyn's, complete with "Seinfeld."
  
• We had regional conference today: President Uchtdorf and President Packer spoke, and it was stellar.
• There was a CES fireside tonight with Elder Holland, and it was beyond incredible. It's like he knows me or something. He talked all about the lessons we learn from Joseph Smith's stint in Liberty Jail. It was so personal and touching.
  

• I watched a few episodes of "Alias" online. I'm a huge fan. Because, you know, it's not like I don't need another TV show to like. Good grief.
  

• And probably my favorite highlight from the weekend: B-Money. He's a salesman who carries t-shirts he designs himself around in a large duffel and tries to sell them to students. He's especially popular among the 700 East crowd. One of Katelyn's friends invited B-Money to crash the banana pancake party, and so for the first half hour, B-Money was trying to bargain with us on t-shirts (which have his face on them, no joke). He also makes his own hip-hop CDs and was selling them for $7. (The CDs were called "Rag$ to Riche$.") If only I had cash on me. He just hung out for a while, and then went back to pounding the pavement. I wish you all the luck in the world, B-Money.

And now I get to start another week. Hopefully I can find a good school groove: I'm finding motivation hard to come by. Maybe if I buy a B-Money shirt. . . .

Edit: Google "B-Money" on GoogleVideo and enjoy.

back in Provo

On Thursday, Mom, Dad, Emily, and I all made the trek out to Provo for yet another school year. We drove the truck and the beaten up Toyota (the latter of which has no A/C) and it was kind of a long drive out there . . . .

Dad putting air into the tires before we left.

My breakfast: leftover birthday cake.


Mom filling up the truck in Grand Junction.


All of the stuff at my feet--it was a very full car.


The disgusting Provo traffic that greeted us when we arrived nine hours later.

It was such a fun weekend, and I'm way excited about my new apartment and my new roommates; however, last night was not fun and was way way sad. What's different for me this year is that things aren't that different for just me, if that makes any sense. . . . I'm just going into another school year at BYU: I've said goodbye to my family before, I've lived on my own before, I know what I'm doing. I'm experiencing the least amount of change out of everyone in my family. What was so hard for me was knowing how scared and sad Emily is and how sad and lonely Mom feels, knowing that there's only so much I can do.

Last night was hard for me because I knew the significant change the rest of my family was experience, while I was basically doing the same thing I've been doing for the past two years.

It was hard. It is hard.

It's just so different feeling like nothing is really too different for me this year. That's the only way I can think of to explain it, even though it doesn't make much sense. Mom's and Emily's blogs show a better sense of what they're feeling--everyone is scared and sad because of different things, different unknowns. The only thing I can think of to do is just press forward, knowing there's a plan.

Here's to another school year, the same and different all at the same time.

no comment

I leave tomorrow for Provo at 6:00 a.m. It's past 11:00 p.m., I'm not quite finished packing, and I want to die. Reference photo below.


ps--I've had an awesome week that deserves to be documented when I don't feel like walking death.

a poem for monday, june 16, 4 days before i go home

Happy Happy Monday
I'll be home so soon.
After all my finals
I might just be a loon.

Just four more days
And I'm home free
An 8-hour car ride
With 4 boys--whoopee!!

I already called shotgun
Before any of those boys could blink.
However, with so much testosterone in the car,
I doubt I'll be able to listen to N*SYNC.

So, when Dad comes out on Thursday, he's bringing our next door neighbor Nick with him and John. And then we're bringing a guy from my home stake back with us to CO--I told Dad I call shotgun. No way am I sitting in the back of a car with teenage boys the whole way.

mediocre monday

Several people today have asked me how my weekend was, and my answer has been a solid "mediocre." The past few days have just not been exciting, and I've been in a serious state of The Blahs. I'm burned out with school (I could do another round of classes?! What was I thinking?!), I'm sick of the Physics Department, I'm bored with my ward (however, I am doing my very best to fulfill my calling as 2nd counselor in the RS), I'm sick of Provo in general, I'm ready to check out of my super small apartment, and I'm so ready to go home for the summer. It also doesn't help that we're studying Shakespearean tragedy right now--that's a spirit-lifter. Only 18 more days and I'll be home, so that's great, and I'm sure the time will fly by pretty quick--I still can't believe that spring classes are almost over, because it seems like they just barely started. I think this weekend, my apartment is going to celebrate my birthday (because my birthday isn't until August, we decided to celebrate it early so I can have a b-day celebration with some of my Provo friends), so that hopefully will come through.

I'm trying to improve my attitude, or at least just suck it up. I started reading a leisure book last week (The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck--it's incredible and I'm only 50 pages in). Over the weekend, when I was particularly melancholy, I pulled out my scrapbook stuff and created a bit, which was quite cathartic. Church yesterday was pretty good, which helped out with my morale. I went to Target today, which is always a pleasant experience.

However, despite all these seemingly enjoyable things, I'm still lacking in energy and motivation; I've started listening to Harry Potter in the mornings, which I've realized is a clear indication of my attempt to momentarily escape my own really not-bad-at-all reality. (Note: I haven't completely retreated to HP land quite yet--I do listen to music more than I listen to HP. That's good.) Maybe I can chalk some of the melancholy up to PMS . . .

**Ha, I just read through this and realized that the title of my new leisure book probably doesn't seem like it would be a good thing for me to be reading right now, but it really is a good book.