Better than okay

Margaret is perhaps the most profound person I currently know. We've seen each other only a few brief times this summer but we're only a phone call or text away from at least pretending to be in the same place. Yesterday night we were talking about recent events in both our lives. After sharing a story of my own she smartly replied, "I can neither confirm nor deny that any of it happened, but I can pretty confidently say that this is real life." It was meant as a funny thing, a reassuring thing, but it was the most wonderful sentence to hear last night.

being together means home

Today at church I heard some other profound things from friends. In the hallway as I was getting ready to walk home w/ my roommate Stacy I ran into Trent, Phillip and Grant, also known as The Egg and the boys of the house formerly known as Fiery Passion. I had only seen Grant thus far since June. Seeing Trent felt like coming home. He represents so much of what made winter semester and spring term the best they could be. Just talking w/ him for a few moments was so familiar and relaxing; I only talked to him once or twice over the course of the summer but falling back into what makes us us took a matter of seconds. I gave him updates on life and had the special pleasure of sharing with him that everything I had worried about in winter and spring was completely fixed. He just smiled at me and laughed a little bit, saying, "Didn't I tell you everything was going to be okay?" Those words individually are not profound or complicated. They're about as basic as you can get, but strung together in that question they mean so much.

we keep each other in line

As positive as you try to remain, it's hard to see things in a larger perspective. Back in May, August seemed terribly far away. The fact that I had to make it until August for things to start working out came across as ridiculously difficult. So no matter how many times Trent and Phillip and Grant told me that I would figure things out, I was still unsure. Often enough, "unsure" is a synonym for life itself; though I know they forgive me for questioning their wisdom at times.

making life better than okay

Currently, life is, for lack of a better word, awesome. My roommates are all hilarious and kind. The boys from freshman year are all back from their missions. Jordan and I talk every day. I have a new job on campus. Soon enough everyone will be back from summer vacations and such. I'm not just surviving life or getting by; I'm enjoying and savoring it.

Last YouTube video I watched: John and Rainn Wilson Talk Romance

Fake spring break day 3

In the morning we bummed around in our sleeping bags for quite some time. Trent, Grant and Phil also spent a good amount of time wrestling when they got up. It was hilarious, especially because we were right in the middle of all these campsites and I'm sure plenty of people were weirded out. I'm not joking when I say we were right in the middle either. There were these two small dirt roads that formed a circle all around us. We weren't exactly being quiet either. Emily and I were, of course, laughing loudly and pretty much uncontrollably while the boys laughed and screamed and threatened each other with bodily harm. I love how crazy and loving those boys can be.

the view upon waking up

Waking up basically next to the ocean was pretty great, though. You can't camp right on the beach but not  too far from the campsites was the Pacific Ocean in all its glory. We walked there shortly after getting up. And by getting up I literally mean getting out of our sleeping bags because we were awake for quite some time before we summoned the courage to leave the comfort and warmth they possessed.

I love a good ocean breeze

Once we left the actual beach of Santa Cruz, we made our way into the actual city to find sustenance. And we found it in the form of Denny's. This meal really should've been documented but I'm pretty sure we were all too preoccupied with eating delicious breakfast foods to care about pictures.


After our meal, we went to Manresa beach in Santa Cruz. The boys frolicked in the ocean a bit and Emily and I laid on the sand where it was less windy and actually pretty warm. The sand kept our feet nice and toasty. Eventually one of Phillip and Grant's friends showed up and we made our way to another beach in Santa Cruz that he said was sunnier and less windy. However, that was not the case when we finally got there. It was at least as windy, if not more so, though it was slightly sunnier. The goal of this beach trip was to teach Grant how to skimboard. It was comical to say the least. And eventually it was time for all of them to make a gallant run into the ocean. It took about five minutes for all four boys to psych themselves up for plunging headfirst into the waves. Eventually it happened. They took a running start and off they went, falling and diving into the mighty Pacific. Once again, Emily and I had a great time watching from the sand. They played for quite some time in the water and Trent and Grant eventually got out the boogie boards. Once all was said and done, they were definitely worn out and pretty chilly.

Grant in his natural frolicking habitat

Once they got dried off and changed, off we went to Grant's house, a place we had only spent maybe 4 hours during the whole trip to that point. On the way back we stopped at WinCo, my first time at the store, to pick up stuff for dinner. We ended up having pesto and garlic bread and strawberries and bacon wrapped corn on the cob. Yes, you read that right: bacon wrapped corn. That was Grant's idea, something he learned on his mission in Kentucky. The boys made all the dinner and when I originally went into the kitchen to help, Trent shooed me away but did allow me to sit and watch them cook. All in all it was a pretty chill night. After dinner, which was probably around 9 or 10, we watched something on TV, though I cannot remember what it was exactly, and all of us fell asleep before midnight.


Stay tuned for more!

Fake spring break days 1 & 2

Here's the story of how I went to California for 4 days with 4 of the most awesome people ever.


On Thursday we left Provo at like six even though the plan was to leave at like four. That meant we didn't get to Grant's house until two in the morning. Needless to say, we were all pretty dead tired. The drive wasn't too bad. I was in the middle back between Grant and Trent for the most part; yep, I drove to California in the back, in the middle, with my feet on the hump. It was pretty nice all things considered. I fell asleep on Trent's shoulder two different times, mostly by accident and without the intention of actually falling asleep, but of course he's so sweet that he would never complain, even if it did bother him.

the best road trip buddies a kid could ask for

We listened to a lot of music, of course. And we also watched a Mission Impossible movie, though I mostly slept through it. Well, it wasn't so much sleeping as it was laying against the window with my eyes closed. I quite liked the drive, honestly. I love road trips. All in all it was an uneventful drive. Apparently some crazy stuff went down as we were going through Truckee but it was really only Phillip and Trent that know what went down. And Emily and I aren't going to ask about it anytime soon.

On Friday we left Grant's house bright and early to get to the Oakland Temple so Phil could go to the actual wedding in the temple. That was the reason for the trip after all, so we could celebrate the wedding of Wes and Hannah. While that was going on, the rest of us walked around the temple and went into the visitors' center. I haven't been in a visitors' center in a long time. The sister missionaries of course reminded me of Kelsey and soon enoug Sara. After that, Grant and I went back to the car to study. Grant got a lot done but I ended up taking a nap of sorts. Once the sealing was over we took some pictures on the terrace of the temple. It was very beautiful.

Then we made our way to a nearby BART station to take the train to San Francisco. Taking the train made me really miss London and the tube. Once we got to San Francisco we made our way to Chinatown. I say "made our way" but it was more like wandering around. Since Trent served his mission in Oakland and San Francisco he was our unofficial guide of sorts. He didn't really know where he was going but it seemed like he did. It took a while to walk to Chinatown but we didn't mind. It was just great to be around each other in a new city. We eventually found a really good place to eat, though the boys were not pleased with the size of the portions, though that was to be expected. After lunch we made our way to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square. We were on the bay and walked around there for another few hours. It started to rain just a bit but nothing to deter us. It was crazy windy by the ocean but once again we didn't care. I think the best part of the day for Emily and me was Ghirardelli Square. We shared a delicious and huge peanut butter sundae known as the "Gold Rush." It cost us a bit but it was most definitely worth it.

I also loved when we stopped at this random Thai restaurant. Trent spoke to the waitress all in Thai. It was awesome and I admire Trent so much for being able to do that. He's an incredibly talented and smart guy. Things are always great when you have a half Thai/half Irish friend who speaks multiple languages.

At that point we were even more tired and decided to take a street car to the Embarcadero BART station and then back to our car. From there we drove back to Oakland for the reception. It was beautiful. Wes and Hannah had their reception at a building at the Oakland Zoo. It was outside and a perfect night as the sun set over Oakland and San Francisco. The dinner was also awesome. They had a great buffet. (You'll notice quite quick that much of this trip revolved around food.) Perhaps the coolest part of the reception was seeing Wes and Hannah's friends give toasts. Hannah's Harry Potter fandom friends were there and they said some hilarious things I'm sure only a few of us got. It was neat to meet them especially because I've seen pictures of them for years and heard a lot about them from Hannah. Though by far the best thing about Hannah and Wes as a couple is the fact that they have known each other since they were about three years old.

We left the reception before the dancing which was kind of a bummer since I really wanted to dance with Grant and Trent, who were both my dates.

our fearless men

 So we went off to Santa Cruz then, heading for our campsite. By the time we got there it was sometime after eleven. We all basically went straight to bed, and by bed I mean we laid out a huge tarp, unrolled our sleeping bags, crawled in and didn't wake up for hours. I did sleep quite well and wasn't cold at all.


And that's the end of days number 1 & 2 of our epic fake spring break trip to California.

Excitementish?

Sometimes I feel like my life doesn't amount to much. I see what my friends are doing, friends from school and friends from home, friends taking classes right now and friends elsewhere in the world. People have jobs and internships; others are graduating; a good number are on various study abroad trips to awesome places, like Mckenna in Guernsey and Carson in Italy. I've got my riveting classes of media and world religions, which goes right up until 6:30 every Monday and Wednesday evening, and Iberian civilization, which has an exam basically every week. At first glance, I don't have much exciting stuff going on, but things are surprisingly great, and exciting in ways that most people would probably not consider exciting.

I've gotten a lot more time to read lately. I love sitting in the grass on campus or at the park and reading a good book. It's definitely one of the things I miss the most about fall and winter semesters. There really just is not time for recreational reading. I may have gotten a little too excited about reading though because I've barely started some of the books I checked out from the library and they're due in a couple days.

There's a house of boys who live right around the corner who make sure at least two or three nights a week are filled with some kind of . . . something. Whether that be watching a movie, or kidnapping a roommate for his birthday and getting cupcakes and then fries and Frosties from Wendy's, or going to Macey's for cheap soft-serve, or getting lunch and then going to Home Depot to find spray to kill wasps. They're always around for hugs and laughs and smiles and snacks. Just last night I saw The Avengers with them, and let me tell you: seeing that movie with a bunch of boys makes it 10 times more hilarious and epic.

My apartment has always been friends w/ the apartment right across the hall, but over the last few weeks of spring semester we've seen even more of them, and it's been awesome. We've gone to see movies; we've stayed in to watch movies; we've eaten cookies; we've talked about boys. I got to go to an awesome fire w/ one of them and then after to stare at the super moon. We stop by each other's apartments just because we can. It's a really small thing but hanging out with them is easily some of the most fun I've had all semester.

And perhaps what I'm most excited about/what is most exciting is having the opportunity to go to Mikaela's wedding reception, which is exactly a month from today! I'm so excited. Mik is from Colorado and getting married in Utah and is having a reception here and back home, so had I gone home for spring semester, I would have missed it. Mikaela easily became one of my best friends at school and I'm both terribly excited and sad she's getting married, though mostly I'm excited. Her dress looks awesome and it's going to be an epic day.

However, now that I think about it, what will make spring semester the best is the fact that I get to go to California over Memorial Day weekend! My other wonderful friend Hannah is getting married in Oakland, and fortunately for me the aforementioned boys who live around the block are all going to California that weekend and I get to road trip it with them. One of them is going to the reception as am I, another is from the area, and the other two are basically just going for fun.

So while my life may not be as epic as those traversing the world, it's still pretty dang good.

Last YouTube video I watched: Pitcher Makes Awesome Behind the Back Grab

It feels like college

Last night/in the wee hours of this morning I felt more collegiate than I have in a long time. The last time I felt that young and carefree was probably when Hank and I went to play tennis outside at 11 at night back in October. Last night definitely beat out late night tennis, though.

First there was a wedding reception for a dear friend from freshman year. I got to see a bunch of awesome friends so that was lovely. There was also a Cold Stone ice cream bar dealio. It was delicious, of course. My favorite part, besides seeing my now-married friend, was reuniting with SJ.

After the reception, Lorraine went right to bed since she had to run a half marathon this morning and the bus for the start of the race left at 5:30, so she had to be up around 4:30. I, on the other hand, went over to my friend Trent's house. He'd called earlier that evening and wanted to know if I would care to come roast marshmallows with him and his roommates. 

So I went over there and to my surprise were we not only roasting marshmallows for s'mores, we were legitimately grilling. That day Trent's roommate Chris bought a little Weber grill, and so of course they had to use it that very night. Mind you this was around 10 or 10:30 at night. And we were grilling pork ribs and pork chops and asparagus. It was all wonderful, and we had some rice too for good measure. Later in the night, around 11:30, we did roast marshmallows for s'mores. Trent was lovely enough to give me a Reese's peanut butter cup to use instead of a Hershey bar. (Because he is awesome.)

Eventually Grant found the movie he wanted, the first Sherlock Holmes, and we watched that. I was pretty awake at the beginning of it. Then I kind of started falling asleep. But in the last twenty minutes or so of it, I was quite awake once again. I was not tired. At all. Grant walked Becca and me home and then I ended up staying awake until around 3 or 3:30. Totally irresponsible? Yes. Completely great decision at the same time? Also yes. 

I had an absolutely fantastic time with all of my friends last night, both at the reception and at Grant and Trent's house. The best part of it all? We don't even need alcohol to have that much fun. It was so chill and fun and relaxing and exciting all at the same time. Something was always going on but just being around those people made it feel as if nothing was happening at all. That's always interesting to me, the idea of party schools and drinking alcohol of some sort to have fun. I don't understand that type of party/partying. The possibility of not remembering those incredible nights is so unappealing. The only reason I can't remember certain parties is because all the fun and excitement just runs together into a blur of awesomeness from the various times I'm with my friends.

As for today? I'm just studying for a test and reading books for fun. I might go disc golfing with Hank and some other people but he hasn't gotten back to me yet on a time. And Jeff might come over? Question mark because I don't know what time/if he really will. All in all, I just need a relaxing day to recover from being so college.

Last YouTube video I watched: The Empire - Jason Munday (May the Fourth Be With You)