In which my day starts (and ends) happy

I totally forgot to blog on Wednesday and it was only the third day of April! I'm still putting up the post from the 3rd, even though it is the 4th, because I can't just gloss over such a nice day.

I woke up feeling pretty, well, sad and did a great job moping on the way to work at 9. It was a beautiful morning, absolutely perfect really. It was hard to enjoy because all I could think about was how I wouldn't see my Lorraine for 18 months.

As I moped my way to the library, I ran into Peter, almost quite literally as he came up beside me and slightly shoved me. I'm not sure if my moping was just that obvious or if Peter just knows me that well but whatever the case he knew something was up. So I moped to him a little bit about being sad and he gave me some cheesy lines about smiling and being happy and hugged me a couple times before sending me on my way.

It was a small thing for him to stop me and really ask how I was doing. It made my day infinitely better. The rest of the day was spent in class or working on projects. Most days I have very little down time between classes and Wednesdays are no different. I got home from my Utah history class just after 6:30, made some dinner and then hunkered down in my room to get all my homework done. Thursdays are by far my busiest day and there much to get done.

But, of course, the Internet wasn't working! I needed it to finish an InDesign project so I went to the Lava Lounge for a couple hours to finish all my work. I left around 10:15 but I wasn't quite ready to go home yet because I knew I would just mope more if I went to my apartment. Instead I called Peter and spent time with him and his lovely roommates.

As we are prone to doing, Peter and I ended up talking for a long while and stayed up far too late. Kirk and Kyle were a party to this talking/not sleeping as well but they went to bed well before Peter and I. The four of us talked about dreams, their anatomy class, organ donation, medical school, happiness and our weekend plans. I even convinced Kyle to come with me to my friend Chelsea's senior piano recital on Friday night. Ever since freshman year I've been telling Chelsea I would bring a date to her senior recital and I'm actually going to follow through on it. It doesn't really count as a date since it's with Kyle and Peter and I had to do use some persuasion tactics to get him to agree but she'll think it's hilarious no matter what. And as much as I love talking with Kirk and Kyle, talking with Peter alone was even better.

It ended up being a really relaxing night, which is not something I expected. Spending a weeknight with some of my dearest friends was something I needed though I didn't quite realize it at the time. I slept great that night and even though I woke up pretty tired, it was worth it. There are some days when staying up late and talking with friends is worth the hassle the next morning.

It's not good-bye. It's see you later.

On Wednesday, you, Lorraine Nicole Hilton, my sweet roommate of nearly 4 years, enter the Missionary Training Center to truly begin your training before heading off to Paris for 18 months. 

Lorraine, you and I have lived together since the fall of 2009 and have stuck together up to this point. You moved out of our lovely apartment on Saturday. If I had to name one constant from my last 4 years at BYU, it's you. You're it. You're basically my everything. I have been with you every fall and winter semester since 2009. I'm fairly certain I have not spent more time with anyone else since coming to BYU.

I will miss you. Miss you more than anyone else I've come to know and love at BYU. It was terrible to lose the boys from my freshman ward, and I'm sorry boys, but you've got nothing on Lorraine.

I wanted to write a whole list of all our greatest moments but I have no idea where to start. You and I have been together through the most incredible times, both good and bad.

We've laughed together,
Shopped together,
Sang together,
Cried together,
Run together,
Dreamed together,
Cooked and baked together,
Said good-bye to people together,
Traveled together,
Played frisbee together,
Studied together,
Felt lost together,
Mailed letters together,
Planned together, and
watched those plans fall apart together,
Stayed up late together,
Eaten together,
Loved together,
Celebrated together,
Sat in silence together,
Worked through basically everything together.

Lorraine, you are by far one of the most wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of associating with, and not just associating with but loving.

And now we will no longer be together, at least not physically in the same place. But you will be a part of my life literally forever because of how you have changed and influenced me. I owe you so much and I know I'll never be able to fully explain how much you mean to me. And we know when I don't have the words for something it must be pretty incomprehensible because usually I have words for everything. Though all I really need are these five: I love you, Red Hawk.

So as you're reading this Lorraine, know how much I love you. Know how thankful I am that we ended up in the same building and apartment in Heritage Halls. I believe with all my heart that we were meant to end there. Together. That we were meant to keep living in the same place. Together. That we were meant to go through everything we have. Together.

Lorraine, you have changed my life and I know I've changed yours. I also know we'll keep changing each other's lives for years to come. These next 18 months are going to be absolutely wonderful for you and for me. That doesn't mean they'll be easy, I expect they'll be particularly difficult for each of us for a number of reasons, but they will be wonderful.

Girls as fascinating as ourselves could hardly expect anything less than an awesome time. In fact, I'm fairly certain everything will be dream.

LORRAINE IS GOING TO PARIS FRANCE

Last night my beloved, sweet Lorraine got her mission call to Paris. It was quite the affair. There were at least 30 people crammed into our apartment and it was awesome. Yesterday afternoon I texted anyone who knows and loves Lorraine who she might not have already told. Nearly everyone I messaged showed up as well. It was a great group, filled with people from all four of years at college. A good number of boys from our freshman ward. All the sophomore year roommates except one since she was at work. All of Lorraine's immediate family plus a few cousins. A few boys and girls from our junior year. Lots of people from this year, our supposed "senior" year.

After hugging and saying hello to all my friends from years past and present, I took my place near our open door with Trent on my left, standing on our end table, and Jeffrey on my right. I strategically placed myself next to Jeff, as I knew if I were to need moral/emotional support, he would be the one I would look for anyway. (He did a great job providing it as well. I'm pretty sure Jeff and I hugged more last night than throughout the last 2.5 years combined.)

So in front of a packed house, Lorraine finally opened the envelope. She read only a few lines before completely stopping and exclaiming, "Oh my gosh!" and putting her face in the papers.

This is Lorraine's literal dream mission. She has been in love with France for years and has been there multiple times already. The joy on her face was indescribable to me. So here's a picture instead.

Stacy was in the most perfect spot to get all of these pictures, so kudos to her. I gave Becca my Flip to take video of it all, which she did. I'll upload that hopefully this weekend. It was an incredible night and I'm so glad we have the pictures to remember it by, but I don't even think we really need them. For the three roommates and myself, yesterday was an amazing experience. I don't think any of us could ask for more wonderful roommates.

There's Stacy, who served her mission in Chile and who randomly lived with Lorraine and I last year. Stacy is hilarious. Her missionary wisdom never ceases to amaze us. We are so incredibly blessed that Stacy randomly bought the fourth contract in our apartment last fall. We can always count on her for delicious baked goods and snappy comebacks.

There's Becca, who I talk about a lot on here, and who I've known since freshman orientation. Our relationship is pretty much perfect. Becca can make anyone laugh, if not for her own sense of humor but because of her propensity to snort loudly. I'm pretty sure it's impossible for Becca to ever stop loving and helping people.

And there's of course, Lorraine, who I have lived with for 3.5 years now and who Becca has known since freshman year as well. My love for Lorraine knows no bounds. Had I been told freshman year that I would live with her for the rest of my college years, I don't think I would've been surprised necessarily, but more so totally excited. Lorraine and I have been through some rough times, but also some absolutely joyful ones as well. It will be tough to send her off, but I know she'll hunt me down the moment she returns from France in 2014. And it will be an amazing reunion.

As the four of us shared a group hug just moments after she opened her call, the joy and love I felt regarding all of them was simply awesome. I looked at Lorraine, tears in her eyes, and of course I could not help but cry a bit as well. I knew it was going to happen. I told all my friends if they wanted to see me cry, then they had better be at our apartment at 9:30. Becca talked about that moment later. As we were all getting ready to finally go to bed, she said that tonight was the time we went from being friends to being family. There is something to be said for a group of people who just get each other. Apparently people in the ward have, at times, taken to calling us the "Fab Four." (Not a bad reputation to have.)

I'm a firm believer in the idea that you meet certain people at certain times for certain reasons. People are in your life for a reason. I have never doubted that for a moment with Lorraine, or with either of my roommates for that matter. There's so much stuff Lorraine and I have talked about that seems to make sense to only us. Whether or not this is actually true, I don't think I'll ever know. We have the same thoughts, we say the same things, we act the same way. Ours it not a relationship to be taken lightly. Last night, Jordan told me I was acting like a grieving girlfriend sending her boy on a mission. It's a fair comparison, one I proudly accept. 

Lorraine. The love of my life. My dear, sweet ginger. You are a gem,a lady I will never forget. You are the most perfect of all the nunjas to ever exist. I cannot tell you how happy I am to be able to say with complete certainty that everything is dream.

Last weekend before SENIOR YEAR

Saturday morning I went running, which brought me down to 146 miles to go. The rest of the day was spent bumming around. I felt it important to enjoy my last totally free Saturday by being totally free of commitments. Becca arrived Saturday evening which made the whole apartment just so fantastic. Finally the four of us were in the same place!

The night was spent at a dance party full of hipsters. I loved it. The music was quite good and definitely appealed to my hipster side. I literally knew one song they played the entire time I was there, which was almost 2 hours. (The song was Midnight City by M83, a song I only know because of Grant and Trent.) It was a weekend full of freshman ward reunions as Lorraine and I attended this dance party with Will, Braden, Erick, and Wade. It was so quality.

Sunday was even more wonderful. We went to church but Lorraine and I cut out a little early so we could go to my freshman roommate Sara's mission farewell. Riding along w/ us was Wade and Erick., so I saw those crazy kids two days in a row. She did a wonderful job, speaking along w/ her younger brother who will be on his mission at the same time. I was lucky enough to get a bunch of Sara's glances and smiles as she spoke in church. I was one of very few people she directly made eye contact with while speaking. My relationship w/ SJ really is something special.

After church, we went to Sara's house for some early dinner. It was essentially Cafe Rio. Sara's dad is an incredible cook and did not disappoint. So the five of us (Lorraine, me, Wade, Erick and Sara) spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around her front yard, reminiscing, joking, making plans, discussing our futures and just being all-around great friends. It was as if you had transplanted us back to freshman year, except now we're all two years wiser. Sort of.

We finally tore ourselves away from SJ's presence to return to Provo. Lorraine and I met up w/ our other roommates and went to a barbecue some of the guys in our ward organized. We met a bunch of new people who moved in on the block and just played some games. We stayed at their house for well over 2 hours, at which point we met up w/ a bunch of other people for a little bonfire.

I cut out of that early and visited my friend Emily instead. Emily used to live across the hall but moved to the apartment complex right next door to mine, so we're still kind of neighbors. I helped her make cookies, along w/ her boyfriend and a group of their friends. It was great to catch up with her and, as always, swap stories of the past few weeks. Eventually Jordan called so we could hang out one last time before school took over our lives. (This is only partially true. We'll be seeing each other all the dang time.) He and I enjoyed each other's company for 2 or so hours until I essentially kicked him out so I could go to bed at a relatively decent hour; I worked this morning at 8.

Basically, a totally quality weekend, easily the best weekend I've had in a long, long time. As far as school is concerned, it was a great first day. I got into the history class I really wanted, I only had 2 classes, and my feature writing class is full of all my favorite journalism people. It's going to be a wonderful semester.

Last YouTube video I watched: Is College Worth It?

Goals & motivation (I need a little of both)

There's the biggest goal of the semester: 150 miles in 16 weeks. I made a little chart where I can fill in the miles. It's fun to color in little boxes, right? I'm counting on that to motivate me, as well as, of course, ShayCarl. (He seems to be at the root of so many of my goals.)

So basically he's made me believe I can run 150 miles in 16 weeks. Lorraine has too. (Stay tuned for a semester full of running 5ks and probably a half marathon, all thanks to here.) I titled my playlist for this semester "Shaytember/fall 2012" because the songs on it really need to motivate me, in more ways than just running too. This semester, the first of what is technically my senior year, I'm balancing a lot of things: 14 credits spread out between 5 classes; a job in the library I've already come to love; wonderful & hilarious roommates; plenty of loyal & caring friends; going to as many sporting events as posssible; time w/ Jordan split between studying, playing music, watching sports & just enjoying each other's company in general; the desire to make delicious food . . . The list goes on.

Here's to hoping it all turns out okay.

Not too shabby

Last YouTube video I watched: Evolution of Music Live

Sweet Lorraine

I could write thousands of words regarding my love for Lorraine, but I think this picture really sums up our relationship quite perfectly.

Thanks for always being awesome, Lorraine. Here's to a FOURTH great year of living together. (WE'RE SO OLD)

A home of sorts

Since May there has been a serious increase in the number of my freshman friends returning from their missions. Sometimes it feels like every other day another one returns home. I can't help but smile as I see their names change on Facebook with the loss of the title "Elder." I can't help but smile as they make their first posts, proclaiming in some way, "I'M BACK," posts which are inevitably followed by a plethora of welcome back comments and likes from friends and family.

What I'm most excited about though is seeing those guys on campus again. Everywhere I went freshman year I felt like I was always running into someone I knew. The last two years I hardly saw people I knew on campus; this past year that might have had something to do with the fact that I spent nearly all my time in a single building. There was always something so comforting about knowing people on campus and being able to talk with them for even a brief moment. After freshman year literally half the people I knew were suddenly gone. But this next school year hopefully I'll get those little campus moments once again.

Recently my friend Katie wrote a blog post about enjoying time w/ her family before she leaves for a year and a half to Hong Kong. Her post started off with this:

Do you ever have those moments when something is so beautiful that you can't breathe? When your heart is so full and fit to burst that there actually isn't enough room in your chest for air? When you ache with longing, and you aren't quite sure why, but your white-hot joy is tinged with just a shade of grief? When you are reminded of something that feels more like home than anything you've ever experienced, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is? 

Katie is quite the wordsmith, something I've always known but appreciated so much more when I read that. She managed to put into words a few different emotions that are often so hard to explain, especially the emotions directly related to what "home" is. As I saw my friends come home while I was in Utah for spring term I experienced a different version of home. Walking and talking with Jordan was incredibly familiar; we didn't skip a beat. Watching Matthew interact with his old roommates and talking with him one-on-one was so comforting; in so many ways little had changed. But in so many ways a lot had changed as well. We're all different but also the same. Two years changed us but I also think it made us realize even more so how "home" is not the place but the people.

And while those freshman friends make college feel like home, there are plenty of people I met while they were gone that make me feel at home. The boys of Fiery Passion. The girls across the hall in apartment #2. Carson & Kaitlin from Italian. Mckenna. Jeff, and sometimes even his crazy roommates. James, Brooke's husband of almost one year(!) And most recently Cameron for starting Doctor Who night.

In about a year or so I won't be a college student anymore. It's probable that I won't reside in Utah, nor will many of my friends who made it into a home at all, but that's okay. Utah itself isn't all that special. Utah is special because of the people I met and learned to love, people I will always continue to know and love. Without those people Utah would mean nothing to me. The great thing about having met people from all over the United States is the fact that home is wherever we happen to meet again.

I'd also like to mention that this my 300th post on this blog. Incredible. Three hundred posts, some more intricate and thought-provoking than others, that's for sure. I'm not sure if I'll get to 300 more but you never know.

Last YouTube video I watched: Meyers Leonard Highlight Mix

Running in Wisconsin

It's a heck of a lot easier than running in Utah. I've found that out very quickly. So far I've gone twice, both times around 2 miles. Running 2 miles in Utah, at least for me, kind of sucked. It definitely helps that everything here is green and just beautiful.

There are, however, a lot of hills within a 2 and 3 mile radius of my house it seems. I forgot about that in the time I was gone. Well, that's not true. I definitely remember them because I always thought about them when I went longboarding. I think my biggest issue with them is the fact that I never ran them before. The area around where I live really isn't that hilly, though. Yes, there are mountains literally right there but I don't run by them. There are big hills in Provo but my running routes don't go near them; I don't run nearly far enough to deal with them. (Yet.) Yeah, the Midwest is generally pretty flat, but not all of it. There are hills galore, at least where I live.

But the running itself is as good as it gets for me. Lorraine uses running to problem solve. It's crazy the stuff she can figure out while running; a lot of the time it's complex math equations and computer programming and fancy math stuff in general. She's basically a running mathematic genius. Anyway, that's not how things work for me. I shut my mind off playing sports. I do enough thinking in the rest of my life. Running still doesn't quite let me do that. Maybe someday it will but I'm not counting on it anytime soon.

So the point of this: running in Wisconsin is great. I love being around trees and greenery, in familiar neighborhoods and running past the houses of people I know. It's nice. Well, the running itself isn't all that nice but what I experience while doing the terrible act of running is. If that makes sense.

Last YouTube video I watched: Learn Me Right - Mumford & Sons with Birdy

Summer packing & last adventures

I've spent a little time the past two days putting my clothes and a few other belongings in my now-weathered suitcase. It's been on quite a few trips now, many to and from Utah. The most exciting thing about packing today is the fact that I'll be able to fit my wonderful memory foam pillow and the suitcase won't be over the 50 pound weight limit. I'm very excited about this fact.

Packing is always interesting because it really shows you what things you like/need the most, especially when it comes to clothes. There are some shirts and pants I most definitely need and others that are nice to have but just aren't necessary. I've found that to be the case with a lot of my t-shirts. There are still things at home in my closet so I don't need to bring everything from here. It's hard to decide what to bring and what to leave though since I don't know how I'll feel a month from now and I don't doubt wanting a lot of the things being left behind in my closet in Utah.

Of course some of the hardest things to leave behind are books. I love having a lot of my books here in Utah because they make my room feel like a home. Luckily my brother and I both have all the Harry Potter books or I'd be real sad. This will also give me the opportunity/force me to read books I haven't read before.

Besides packing the last few days have been spent doing awesome stuff with awesome people. Becca and I made Swedish pancakes the other night at, like, eleven. They were delicious of course. Lorraine and Laura came over to enjoy them with us.

Lorraine, Becca and I also went to a birthday party for a friend, though the real purpose was to see Amber. She lived in the same building as us freshman year. Becca and her were also roommates sophomore year. It's always lovely to see Amber and just catch up on life. It's great when we all get together because suddenly all these inside jokes come out that we usually forget about, and then we just laugh really hard and people are confused as to what's so funny.

Thursday afternoon I got lunch with Jeff. We went to Cafe Rio and it was glorious. I seem to always forget how delicious Cafe Rio is until I go again. It was just the two of us which was lovely. We sat for a long time just talking about life and such. We're really good at transitioning between all sorts of topics of conversation. One minute we'll be talking about BYU football or basketball and then we're talking about his roommates' dating lives and then we'll be having some spiritual/churchy conversation. It's great times with Jeff and I'll miss our little hang outs.

Perhaps the best thing of this past week was hanging out with Jordan one last time before I leave. Actually, it is definitely the best thing that happened this past week. He came over yesterday morning and we went to the park and threw around my frisbee for an hour. Then we got shakes at the creamery. It was the first time he had the flavor graham canyon since getting back from his mission so he was super excited and he was not disappointed. We ate our shakes at my apartment and then watched most of the Sweden/England soccer match. At halftime we shared our friends' awkward engagement pictures and had a good laugh. I also shared some of my new music with him. Jordan and I became friends primarily because we loved each other's music, but we stayed friends because we have a lot of other stuff in common as well. Saying good-bye to him was difficult since we've only seen each other a couple times in the past month he's been home but it's all right this time around because we can actually call each other and text each other whenever we want. Fall semester is going to be awesome and we've already made plans for some adventures upon my return to Utah.

So tonight is Mikaela's wedding reception. Lorraine and I will go to that and then visiting SJ's house to have a little fire and to eat s'mores. I'm sleeping over at Sara's house so tomorrow we can go together to see Matthew speak in church. This will be the first, and really the only time, I'll be seeing Matthew this spring. I'm ecstatic. Now that he's home the mail has little meaning anymore. For two years I practically lived for checking the mail, but those days are no more. It's weird to not have that constant anymore, though now that my friends who are girls are going on missions I'll still be writing plenty of letters, that's for sure.

And now a photo tribute to Mikaela and I throughout the years:

I'm pretty sure this is the first picture
Mikaela and I were ever in together

Congratulations on getting married today, Mik! You're awesome and I can't wait to hear about all your married life adventures with Calvin in Colorado.

Last YouTube video I watched: Watsky raps fast

Accomplished: spring term

Today is the last day of classes. I am all done with spring term. Time is a crazy thing. When I got home from my last class of "junior" year, I went for a 15 minute run and then I did an ab workout for 15 minutes. There's this really cool app called Nike Training Club that has all sorts of workouts to do that focus on all different things. They last anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes, all depending on what you want to do. While doing my abs I started watching more Euro Cup! (This is what I've been doing every day before the past few days.) Ukraine and Sweden are plying right now. (Carson served his mission in Ukraine so I really hope Sweden wins so I can trash talk him.) I love Sweden. They were the first national team I ever saw play so I will always love the Swedes. Also, they are all very good-looking; well, except maybe Ibrahimovic. If matches were decided on how good-looking the players are, I'm pretty sure Sweden would win unanimously.

But since spring term is over now, not counting exams (I only have one so it hardly counts anyway), I am officially in summer. So I present:

Spring term in Utah (photos I haven't posted yet)

Finding "wetlands" in Provo

Watching Grant be a sea lion

Pondering life in Santa Cruz (This is my favorite
photo from the entire CA trip)

Riding the train to SF between these hooligans

Matching with Stacy

Being Trent's favorite, meaning I always got the front seat

Celebrating Maddie's wedding

Mik's bridal shower type party dealio

This week will bring more awesomeness since I'll probably see Matthew McKay soon(!) and Mikaela's wedding reception is Saturday(!) and the California road trip crew (Grant, Phillip, Emily and Trent) are leaving for Canada to run the Tough Mudder so I'm probably going to hang out w/ those boys one last time before we go our separate ways for the summer. At the very least Trent and I will be getting lunch like old times, and by old times I mean like we did three weeks ago and for most of spring term.

So eight days from now I will be headed home. That'll be lovely.

Last YouTube video I watched: The Green Bean Gelatin Plan

Sophistication

Last night Lorraine, Becca and I participated in an activity so sophisticated I can hardly believe we did it at all.

We watched the movie Thor on Lorraine's laptop while sitting on a blanket on a hill of south campus. The most sophisticated part of it all? We were also eating cheese and crackers: slices of provolone on cheap, off-brand Wheat Thins.

It was Lorraine's idea to watch a movie outside. The night was far too beautiful to sit inside, that's for sure. None of us had seen Thor yet, even though we've all seen The Avengers. (Lorraine has seen Avengers three times actually.) At first I was a little skeptical of the situation. I didn't quite understand the appeal of watching a movie outside; sure, it's fun to do, but it seemed an oddly specific activity for the night. I went along with it though and it turned out great.

The weather was absolutely perfect to sit on the grass. There was a breeze but it was a warm breeze. The sky was clear enough that we could see some stars, though in Provo you don't see many stars ever just because of city lights. A lot of the time I wasn't even watching the movie. I was looking around instead, admiring the night and the situation itself. I've been trying to do as much fun stuff as possible in this spring term and last night was great for that. It was so chill to sit there w/ two of my closest friends watching that movie based off comic books. Everything about last night was calm and carefree. It wasn't the irresponsible or traditional collegiate fun I've come accustomed to on Friday nights but that doesn't make it any less wonderful.

And since we're on the subject of the movies Thor and The Avengers, here's some quick thoughts on them:  Thor is a pretty cool guy, definitely very good-looking. I like Norse mythology and all that jazz. I can see why people are so obsessed with Thor. The group known as The Avengers is pretty awesome as well, though by far the most awesome Avenger is Captain America. Now that I've seen all the comic book movies leading up to creation of The Avengers I can now say it definitively. Everything about Captain America/Steve Rogers is wonderful. It seems people usually pit Thor against Captain America as far as good-looks are concerned, and Thor seems to win out more often than not, at least in my experience. Captain America will always win my book though.

Now that I've finally seen all the preceding movies I really should see The Avengers again. I'll probably understand even more of it, and I already did get almost all of it.

At this point there are 10 days until I return to Wisconsin. We'll see what other adventures I can get done before that time.

Last YouTube video I watched: Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift (Cover by Colette Butler and Callie Moore)

Lorraine

Here is an acrostic poem about my roommate Lorraine. She's a redhead so that's pretty hilarious in and of itself.

L is for lovely. She is completely and utterly lovely.

O is for outstanding. She is an outstanding person in general, as well as an outstanding student. She's kind of a genius.

R is for rad. Her awesomeness has helped me so much, in many ways. Being rad is a definite talent.

R is redhead. Her hair is a nice. Boys compliment it all the time. Just the other night my friend Jordan was helping me with my Spanish final (it was an essay, so don't freak out) and he basically told her that her hair color is really nice. Basically, she's a boy magnet.

A is for agile. Lorraine has run 2 marathons, a handful of half marathons, and even more 5Ks. So pretty much she's a beast as far as running is concerned. She's even turned me into a little bit of a runner myself.

I is for intelligent. Can you name a single person who is a double math and history major? I can! Her name is Lorraine.

N is for necessity. Lorraine has become a necessity in my life. I can't live without her. And I won't be thanks to the fact we'll be living together for the 3rd year in a row.

E is for excellent. Everything about her is excellent. She's made my own life excellent as well.