Didn't Realize I Missed THAT...

This trip home I realized many things I missed while being in Utah...

1. The peace and quiet of sleeping with the window open (no cars or noisy college students right below my window - just crickets and the breeze)
2. Green grass all the time (and that's without in-ground sprinklers, it's the REAL GREEN)
3. The funny things little kids say and do in church (student wards don't have the chatter of a happy baby or the screaming of an unhappy one)
4. Free laundry that's close by if you forget to put anything in or take out (no more quarters and stairs with a heavy laundry basket displaying the goodies to the world)
5. A whole ward full of adoptive mothers and grandmothers (gotta love those hugs and compliments on a bad day)
6. Being able to walk home from church when your dad leaves before you're ready to go (dad - you're lucky it was a beautiful day and I like the outdoors)
7. The hills and farms every here and there (though I'm not Amish, I still love seeing a beautiful farm)
8. A family full of sarcasm and teasing (lucky enough I have roommates who fill that need)
9. A bed I don't have to get a ladder to get into (not to mention one that doesn't squeak, is MUCH comfier, and is in my own room)
10. Small town life with a small town feel (Provo's just too big for this hick-town girl)
11. All of the kids I babysat (they're all grown up and going to Primary and YM/YW...they still come to me for games and hugs though)

Didn't really miss these though...

1. Everyone remembering my awkward stage and reminding me of how I cute I used to be and how grown up I am now (not to mention the crying and embarrassing stories)
2. Humidity (you feel wet and sticky all day and it does wonders to curly hair...NOT)
3. Lack of cell phone service (one minute you have it, a fraction of a step later you don't)
4. Not being able to walk everywhere I want to go (everything is so spread out)
   
5. Sharing a bathroom with my brother (he's sloppy and spends more time in there than I do - is that normal?

I Hate Change

My entire life has been about change and now, at this stage, I'm ready for it to stop. I need something firm and unchanging. I guess that will never happen so I'd better get used to it. I feel like change has hit me especially hard this year and I'm not sure why. I haven't ever cried when leaving people or places, but this year....oh brother. I really wanted to stay in my apartment, my very first apartment ever. Not happening! I wanted to remain in the same ward with the same connections and have everyone stay put. Nope! Where we were was as close as I could get to the building where I practically live everyday. The ward was beyond amazing, which is something none of us expected. I, myself, also changed. I began to open up more to those around me (relatively speaking), I trusted myself more, tried many new things (some of which I never thought I'd do) AND I can play guitar on EXPERT on Rock Band. Pretty successful huh?!? As my mom would say "You've just grown up, that's all that's different." And once again, mother knows best. When deciding where to live in the fall, I had many factors to consider - cost, location, people. With only 4 roommates left hanging around with me and more to leave, I didn't want to have to "train" 5 brand new ones. I can live with being farther away from my building (I love the outdoors anyways), and I can adjust to a new ward. I realized that my stubbornness was only because I didn't want change. I wanted one thing in my life to stay the way it was. Weddings seem to be "popping out of the snow...like daisies"(Name that movie). Since October, there have been about 10 weddings of my friends. And even more to come CRAZY!! (No Tay, that doesn't mean I'm next so stop looking for your future brother-in-law). Many of my friends are returning from their missions too. A lot of the guys that I grew up with here are home and one more is due home this summer. I'm leaving for London on Tues and I can't wait, but I'm also really nervous. Flying is not something I love, but I don't hate it either. It's just takeoff and landing that get me bad. I've never traveled to a foreign country by myself before so that in itself will be a new experience. I can't wait! Change is inevitable...and I've had my fill.

You're Just Too Amazing...Let's Give You MORE!

Finals are going pretty okay right now. And in that I mean that they haven't started yet, but so far so good. I only have 2 scheduled finals and the rest are papers, with 1 additional test in the Testing Center whenever I want to take it. I guess that's what happens when you decide to major in English - the Writing Major. I haven't decided whether or not that's a good thing. Oh well!

The most ridiculous thing about this experience is this one paper that's been driving me up the wall. It's a 10-15 pager with an emphasis on the 15th page (meaning my professor wants it that long). CRAZY!! This paper is for the class that's given me the most stress this semester - CHAUCER. I loved taking the class, but it required 5 papers of varying lengths with topics/prompts so different that they don't even apply to the class discussion or anything (it's felt like busywork) and they've all been assigned back to back with no real break in between. We didn't have any regular tests, just papers. Normally, I wouldn't mind because that's what I signed up for when I decided to be an English major. And since we could pick any topic we wanted to as long as it fit in with Chaucer and was a Literary Analysis I figured this was my chance to really apply what I've learned in class discussions and pick a topic that's interested me. I chose Astronomical and Cosmological references in Chaucer's writing House of Fame. This poem has the most references to the stars and mythology and so off I went into the deep dark "Writing Black Hole" where nothing emerges (not even the memory of what I've written about) and out came one of the best research papers I've ever written. I was very thorough and precise with my research and documentation (those who really know me would understand why). The paper made it to 13 1/2 glorious pages full of information, analysis, and discussion and I felt extremely comfortable with my efforts. We had to turn a draft in about a week ago so I did. When we got them back a couple of days later so we could revise them for the final, my professor had written a note saying: "Topic too specific, please rewrite the paper and broaden your research." How ridiculous is that?!?! I've NEVER heard of a topic being too specific AFTER I've written the paper and found enough research and information to support my thesis. In the early stages of writing, yes, but not after it's all said and done.

So, it's back to the drawingboard to revamp a really good essay to make it more "GE friendly". That, added to all of my other big projects and papers...who has time for those, seriously. Bring on the late nights in the Library. Luckily, it's not due till Saturday anytime so I can work on it all day when I'm not doing anything else.

London is Just Around the Corner (Figuratively Speaking)

This morning I went and picked up my Customs letter and study abroad backpack (pretty fantabulous). The letter is to prove to the custom's officer over there that I'm not moving to the UK to work and that my purpose for traveling is purely academic. I've never heard of such a thing as a "Customs letter" before, but it makes sense. We had the last London prep class for the study abroad tonight where we discussed last minute travel details and got our International Student ID cards, rooming assignments, mailing address for incoming stuff (hint hint WRITE ME) and then PARTIED!!!. It's amazing to me how sometimes time just hurries on by without the slightest hint of letting you take a breath. I can't wait to experience a new phase in my life that I wasn't sure would actually ever happen. When speaking with my Grandma L the other day, I was telling her about my goals and dreams for the future and one thing she said really stuck with me. I was saying how I thought that I'd never get to travel outside the US ever again. I figured I'd get married and be stuck with only a roadtrip to take me anywhere besides my home. I wouldn't mind that as long as it's some kind of travel. I love and thrive on travel and new places. She said something that, honestly, sounded almost like a prophecy or outlook on the future. She said: "You'll travel. In fact, I know you'll visit all the places you wanted to as a child and even the ones you dream of visiting now. I see you living someplace you've never been to, speaking a language you've never learned, and being completely content. That's the life you've grown up with and that's the life you'll always have." Amazing huh?!?! That's my grandma!

HOLI Festival of Colour

Colour has new meaning after attending the Holi Krishna festival last month. Every few months or so, the Indian Krishna Temple hosts a culture festival full of music, dancing, culture sites, and last of all colour throwing. Attendee pay no entrance fee to attend the event, but there is a cost for the satchels of pastel powder of various colours.

This "party" is attended by a whole range of people, but mainly young college students go for the "Cultural colouring." Come wearing old clothes that you don't care about and be prepared to not see the sky or even your own nose as soon as the dust flies.

At the signal "Burning of the Witch", participants grab handfuls of powder from their bags and throw them into the air, at one another, and even on themselves. For about a minute or two the whole sky is coated with a thick fog of bright colours. When the dust settles, no one looks the way they came in. Head to toe is smeared with blotches and splotches of chalk and most of it didn't even come from your own bag of colour.

The highlight of this event is the pictures that come from it. I went with some friends from my ward and one guy suggested putting my camera in Seran-wrap so as to protect it from the chalk, but still keep it available for awesome pictures. What a great idea Ziroll!!! Before getting into the car, we dusted off and sat on newspapers and magazines.

The most tiring part of this experience was the cleaning process. I figured the easiest way to get myself and my clothes relatively clean was to just jump in the shower, clothes and all. That got about 1/4 of the colour off and then I had to scrub scrub scrub. 15 min of showering off, 10 min of hand scrubbing, 2 days of Oxy-clean soak and one cycle of washing with bleach and my once white shirt is now a faint tint of peach. I still wear it and it reminds me of a day of fun.

P.S. Wearing shorts and flip-flops is a must because it makes the clean up a load easier.

Is It "PIE Day" Or "PI Day"?

In High School I wasn't the math nerd so "Pi day" meant nothing to me. College has changed that for me. Ruthie-baby thrives on this one day a year where she can make multiple pies without feeling guilty. This year (our second together as Fox 49'ers) everyone went up to Eden to go skiing with Ruthie-baby's family who were in town. I stayed home because I had a date. An evening full of fun and laughs. Admission price - a Pie of course. Petey and I made a Peanut Butter fudge pie which was super easy. We made it in my apartment because of the lack of roommate distractions. In order to have it set without having to trek across the parkinglot to get it, we put it in his fridge and went to the lounge. His roommates have this group date tradition where they have a big group come and play games and eat pie. We were there an hour early so we had the pool and ping pong tables to ourselves. When everyone else arrived Petey and I realized that we were the only single people in the room. A little awkward when women started telling wedding/baby stories. Oh well, it was still fun! Throughout the evening there were multiple games of pool and ping pong played, lots of delicious pie to be eaten as well as a game of "Curses" to close the evening. There were only 8 of us left at the end of the party so it was a very intimate game but loads of fun. Slamb joined us and definitely started a couple of laughs with his roaring rendition of "pregnancy pool" and ping pong. I'll never be able to look at pie the same way again. Just remember - Pi day= 3/14 (Mar 14)