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

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