The BYU equivalent of spring break

Since we don't get spring break at BYU, I've decided that General Conference weekend is what we get instead. We get to sit on our couches for hours on Saturday and Sunday, spending time with friends and eating delicious snacks. That's as close to a break as we get here in Utah.

This morning Becca and I went to the Lava Lounge and got a free pancake breakfast! Our friends were nice enough to treat us to that while we watching the morning session of conference. It was great to be spread across all of the couches there with friends enjoying all the talks.

For lunch we all went to Chick-Fil-A and then to the park for a picnic! It was a bit windy so we didn't stay long but it was nice to be outside nonetheless. It's turned into a kind of tradition to have Chick-Fil-A picnics on the Saturday of conference. When we got back to the Lava Lounge after eating, Becca, Ryan, Ben and I ended up crowding around Becca's tablet watching N*SYNC music videos. I hardly know how that happened but it did. All four of us were crammed on, like, three couch cushions so that was fun.

Within minutes of the beginning of the afternoon session of talks, Ryan, who was to Becca's right, and Ben, who was to my left, had managed to get closer to us than they already had been and eventually put their heads on our shoulders. (Ben on mine and Ryan on Becca's.) Usually when you think of heads leaning on shoulders, it's the girls putting their heads onto guys' shoulders, right? Well, not at the Lava Lounge; at the Lava Lounge anything goes when it comes to shoulder leaning. At one point Becca and I made eye contact over both the boys' heads and smiled so big and laughed silently for a few minutes. It might sound strange to say but we both feel quite blessed to have these friends in our lives who are so comfortable with us and with each other that they'll drop their heads on our shoulders without a moment's notice or without even asking if it's all right to do: everyone just knows it is. They're our boys, through and through, the kind of friends that define my time at BYU.

After all that was said and done, Becca and I went grocery shopping (wearing our matching Keens) and made enchiladas for dinner! They were super delicious. We're basically unstoppable food-wise when we make something together.

Friday rain

Right now Becca and I are getting ready for our fake dates. I convinced Becca to text Kyle's twin brother Kirk and ask him to go my friend Chelsea's recital as well. Becca and I have wanted to go on a double date with them since the Murray Chick-Fil-A when Kyle called me Becca's "Kirk." (Becca had been saying how she wished I was there and Kyle commented how we seem to do everything together, hence the twin comparison.)

Here's some photo evidence of mine and Becca's fake twinship. (Possibly more to come.)

In other news, it rained a lot today! It was both awesome and notsome (the opposite of awesome if you didn't already know) because I had to walk to one of the farthest north buildings on campus for a scholarship luncheon. I did get quite wet but I also got an amazing, free lunch out of it. The rain was also super refreshing. I wore my Chacos and for some reason they make me fearless when it comes to stepping in puddles and traipsing across campus. Also, the way it smells before and after it rains is wonderful. Utah rain isn't quite as nice as Wisconsin rain but it's not terrible.

The rest of the day was spent on campus doing various things but perhaps my favorite part of the day was visiting my friend/TA Bradley so he could help me fix my paper for my Utah history class. We worked on the paper for maybe 15 or 20 minutes but I ended up being there for about an hour and a half because we got caught up talking. This is technically the third class we've taken together in the last three semesters; one class we were both students in and the other two he was the TA for. We made a pact that if I win the bracket tournament Professor Fluhman holds, I'll let him in on whatever I choose for my prize. Chances are I'll choose to go out to dinner w/ Fluhman and his awesome wife or to have Family Home Evening with the whole Fluhman family. I'm pretty excited to see if I pull out the win though. We're pretty sure I've got it locked up.

Winning that March Madness bracket challenge will probably make my entire collegiate experience feel  complete. I mean, as complete as it can be without yet having graduated.

Friends who love

Last semester and already this semester I've had some pretty lovely experiences with friends who just do things for me when I ask them to and even friends who just do things for me because they decide to.

The first Monday back at school was fine until nightfall. I went to bed super early but couldn't fall asleep for a long time. I was just feeling too sick. So as I'm sitting there on my bed, wondering what to do, my dear friend Peter texted me, apologizing for not responding to a message I sent him that afternoon. Before I knew it, I was talking on the phone with him and explaining everything that was wrong. And because he's so wonderful, he decided to go buy me NyQuil. It wasn't particularly late at night, maybe only 10, but for someone who was sick it sure felt like it was super late. After bringing me the medicine he stayed for a little while, just talking with me and making sure I was okay. When he left he said if I wanted he'd come over the next morning to see if I was feeling any better. And that's exactly what he did.

The Saturday after that was just not a very good day. I wasn't really sick anymore but the day was just . . . off. I was sitting on the couch with Stacy moping and feeling so hungry. I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet and any food left over from before the break was gone. Becca came to the rescue that day. She herself needed food and she took it upon herself to buy things we could share and other things just for me, like Curious George fruit snacks and sweet potato fries. (She knows me far too well.)

No story of service would be complete without Jeff, though. The number of times over the past 2 1/2 years he's come through for me in a tight spot? So many. Jeff is my go-to guy in a sticky situation. He does everything he can to talk with me as soon as he can. He comes over whenever I ask him to. He lets me bum around his basement apartment in those rare moments when I get locked out of my apartment. (It just happened last week actually.) Jeff and I don't get to see each other nearly as often as we probably should but we're really good at stepping into each other's lives when we need to.

In general the boys of the Lava Lounge treat all of us pretty well. In recent weeks they've been especially great, though. They help convince me to go on trips to St. George and then make sure it's a fabulous time. They skip parts of church to talk with me in the hallway instead. They leave awesome parties to spend a little time with me and then go back to the parties to get me snacks. And every single thing they do ends with at least one great hug.

Margaret, however, wins the prize for greatest surprise. Just last week she dropped by the desk at work, leaving me a new CD and homemade chocolate chip cookies. That morning she sent me a message asking if I was working that day; I thought nothing of it since Margaret often drops by the desk. I was off doing something else when she actually came by but that almost made it even sweeter. It absolutely made my week.

These little moments of kindness happen all the time when I really think about it. Last week Stacy made banana bread for the apartment. Lorraine made pudding to share and then we watched The Office. Badger invites us all over for dinner a few times a month. I am blessed with an incredible family here at school. So if anyone I've mentioned happens to be reading this post: thank you for everything you do for me. And even if you weren't mentioned specifically: thank you as well.

Last YouTube video I watched: Photoshop Song

St. George sunshine

Thanks to Martin Luther King Day, we had last Monday off from school. Three day weekends are an absolute joy to college students and a group of us took advantage of the extra day of rest. I believe it was on the Thursday afternoon before MLK Day that I received a text message from Becca saying we would be going to St. George for the long weekend; the friend of two of our good friends has a house there, or rather his family does. I agreed instantly at the time but later ran into a bit of trouble.

Come Friday I was all ready to go. I'd gotten people to cover my hours at work; my backpack was full of clothes; I'd picked out what to read for fun; I'd chosen what little homework to bring. But about 30 minutes before we were supposed to leave, I started to re-think my weekend. That was the trouble. Staying at home and relaxing was just so much easier than driving three hours to St. George that night. I suddenly had the great desire to be alone. Luckily, I have a group of persuasive friends who wouldn't let me stay in Provo when the sunny skies of St. George were so attainable.

And so I went, somewhat begrudgingly.

The drive down that night wasn't bad at all. Five of us journeyed south that night: Nathan, Trent, Erica, Wee Nathan and myself. (Yes, we had two Nathans on the trip. That became quite entertaining.) Wee Nathan and I talked a lot about football. We also watched "Get Smart," a movie I remember surprisingly well even though the last time I saw it was probably when it came out. The drive went by quickly and arriving in St. George felt great, mostly because the temperature was well above 30.

The next morning started out great. The night before we planned out our meals for the weekend and bought everything we needed. That meant a delicious breakfast of orange juice and french toast! Nathan made it for us and he did a fabulous job. We lounged around a lot that morning and afternoon. Both the Nathans, Trent and I eventually made our way outside to play volleyball. It was over 50 degrees that day and it felt spectacular. Going out in a long-sleeved tee and shorts seemed like a miracle. After a bit of volleyball, we just ended up lying in the grass talking. The only thing that drew us away from the sun was the thought of all the ice cream we had in the freezer. (Ice cream was on sale so they bought four half gallons. It was perhaps the best decision anyone made all weekend to buy all that.)

After the ice cream we played cards and some other board game I can't remember the name of. It was quite the competitive time, though. I felt quite good about myself as we played the card game scum on account of how during all but one round I was either in the top spot or the the 2nd spot.

Eventually we decided to break out all the bicycles. Trent was quite enamored with the tandem bike. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I rode a bike so the short ride to the park felt like a dream. Once at the park, we decided to test our disc golf skills. I'd played a fair few times before but my skills aren't all that enviable. I don't quite have the precision needed to putt in disc golf, at least from really close to the baskets. I can throw decently far and with general accuracy so that's what I ended up doing most on my team. However, it turns out I'm excellent at putting from mid-range. Put me within a few feet of the basket and I'm terrible, but put me more than 10 feet away and it's game over: I won't miss a shot. Disc golf is definitely a sport I could see myself really getting into.

Right when we came back from discing, Ben and Becca arrived! Once they were situated in the house, it was time to talk dinner. We ended up toasting some bread and making sandwiches but for people who didn't eat any lunch (Nathan, Erica, Trent, Nathan and myself) they were extra great. Once we'd had our fill, we actually just sat in the dark in the living room for quite some time. Eventually Trent roused all of us from our slightly comatose states, going on about how it was only 7 on a Friday night and we were in St. George and it wasn't freezing outside for once so we had better go out and actually do something. All seven of us climbed into the Honda Pilot and went for a little drive with no real destination in mind.

We ended up pulling into this parking lot that apparently led into some small park full of red rock; it was hard to tell because we only had a couple flashlights and we were away from the city lights. So we took a little hike, even with Becca in her broken state of a walking boot. It ended up being a great decision as we climbed up just a little bit and looked out over the city.

Once we returned from our little hike, we watched the movie "Secondhand Lions" and eventually everyone made their way to their respective rooms/couches to sleep.

Sunday morning all seven us were up and ready to go in enough time to make it to 11 o'clock church; this is what we planned to do so it was great. After that we went to the St. George temple and visitors' center. It was a lovely way to spend our Sunday afternoon and it was such a beautiful, sunny day.

 All that walking around sure made us hungry, though. Immediately upon our arrival back at the house, we all changed and started making our late lunch/early dinner. For Sunday dinner we'd planned to make grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and some vegetable. Friday night after shopping the boys decided the chicken should be marinated so they concocted a marinade/sauce from a variety of things in the refrigerator. This included but was not limited to barbecue sauce, Arby's sauce and mustard.

The best thing to occur as we prepared dinner was the "dare" given to Ben by Nathan. He handed Ben half a head of garlic and said, "I'll give you a dollar if you eat that." And without hesitating, Ben popped that garlic into his mouth and started chewing despite great protest from Becca and me. While Becca was protesting the actual eating of the garlic, I yelled at Ben for doing such a thing for only a dollar; such a challenge was worth way more than that. He chewed that garlic for quite some time before it began burning his mouth and throat and he had to spit it out. Then he brushed his teeth a fair few times and according to him at least the first time he did it he "couldn't taste the toothpaste."

The rest of the dinner preparation went swimmingly and we sat down to a wonderful looking meal around 4 o'clock. Nathan did a marvelous job with the grilling and the boys' marinade turned out great, despite the fact that it had the most random of ingredients. We knew the food was good because we talked so little during that meal.

Following dinner it was time for another bike ride to disc golf. After all, Ben and Becca hadn't gone with us the day before. The teams were Nathan, Erica and Becca; Ben and Trent; Wee Nathan and myself. We were generally pretty even through all the holes until the last three of the second round we played. Wee Nathan and I dominated those last three holes. He threw off first, getting somewhat close to the holes but not close enough to be considered actual putting distance. From well over ten feet away on each of those holes I absolutely nailed it. It was kind of funny considering how at the beginning of the games I was quite vocal about how disc golf always frustrated me and I never could throw accurately. Then somehow I always managed to turn things around and throw the discs perfectly. When we got home Nathan (pictured below as the disc model) said he never wanted to play with me again unless I was on his team.

Nathan: America's Next Top Disc Model

Ben can fly

Disc golf pro, broken foot and all

The only way to pose as champions

Look for us in your next edition of Disc Golf Monthly

Following the disc golf, I'm not entirely sure what we did but eventually we watched the Ravens/Patriots AFC Championship game. And by "we" I mean both the Nathans and myself. Everyone else was there but a lot of people fell asleep. Oh, I'm pretty sure there was a bunch of shake making in between the time we got home and started watching the game. (We seriously ate so much ice cream on this trip.) Once the game was over and everyone was awake again we had to once again choose which movie we were going to watch. Sometimes it feels like we spent more time talking about which movie to watch than actually watching a movie. The Sunday pick ended up being Jurassic Park.

And so came Monday, the day we had to return to cold and wintry Provo. Breakfast was once again french toast, this time made primarily by Becca. It was a pretty slow morning; everyone sort of lounged around and relaxed before our 3ish hour trek back to the more northern quadrant of Utah.

Once we'd all had our share of delicious, sugary french toast, we cleaned up the house. That didn't take long with seven of us working together. The final activity of the trip was writing in the house's journal. Anyone who stays there is supposed to write about whatever they did, a pretty neat thing really. Nathan gave me the job of writing what we did since I'm quite talented with putting words together, or so I'm told. I made everyone sign their names at the bottom of our entry and then it was time to go.

The drive back was a bit melancholy, mostly because we watched the temperature drop over and over. Our days of sunshine and 50 degree weather were gone before we knew it. The farther north we drove the sadder I became that it would be months before I could wear my Chacos again. That was one of those little things that made me incredibly happy: wearing Chacos in January. Hopefully whatever my friends and I do over the next three day weekend will be conducive to wearing sandals. It was quite the weekend and I'm sure glad my friends dragged me along. While this post is particularly long, I haven't even mentioned most of the stuff that really made us laugh, the stuff we'll always remember. There's just some stuff that doesn't need to be written about, the kind of stuff that just had to be experienced and will always be remembered.

And so that was my three day weekend. It's hard to believe that a week ago today I was lounging around a beautiful house in St. George. The first three weeks of school have absolutely flown by. Once again the semester hasn't been anything like I expected it to be, as if they ever are, though this one has been especially surprising. Despite all the unexpected events, none of it has exactly been blog-worthy. It's already the end of January and I'm finally posting for 2013! I figure the fact that this post is especially long makes up for that, right?

I'll make sure to do better.

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.

Meteor Showering

Saturday night Becca got a text message from one of our dear friends at the Lava Lounge. They were all meeting up at midnight to go up the canyon somewhere and watch a meteor shower. How could we miss such an opportunity? We put on our warm clothes, well, I did; Becca doesn't have quite the cold weather apparel like I do.

Then it was time to cram 11 twenty-somethings into three small cars. Luckily, fitting snugly into cars is a talent all college students master and appreciate. I was fortunate enough to get the backseat, in the middle, with my feet on the hump, sitting between two guys who are probably both at least five inches taller than me. As we drove up the canyon, the boys sang along to great songs like "Bleeding Out" by Imagine Dragons, and not-so-great songs like "Payphone" by Maroon 5. (I learned my friend Kyle loves "Payphone." Though I'm not a fan of that song, it made me love him just a little bit more because what 23 year-old guy will honestly and openly admit he enjoys a song like that?)

When we arrived to this random parking lot up some mountainside near Provo Canyon, it was time for a five minute hike up a wide dirt path . Normally such a thing wouldn't be a huge deal. When only two people of 11 have flashlights, though, things get a little tricky. One boy, Kirk, had a Surefire so that was exciting, at least to me. The moment he turned it on and pointed it at the sky I knew what it was. He seemed impressed that I knew exactly what type of flashlight it was too.

At the end of the dirt path was a field/meadow type place. Since it was dark I'm not exactly certain what one would call it. We put down our tarps and blankets and settled in for an hour or so of meteor watching. I love stars quite a bit, so even if we hadn't seen a single meteor I would've been super happy with the situation. At home you can see a fair amount of stars, especially compared to where I live in Utah. Going out, away from the city, is one of my favorite things to do here because you can see so few stars from where I usually am. Actually seeing the Milky Way? It never gets old. Seeing it with a bunch of awesome people? The experience was made even better. We just laughed and talked practically the whole time. There were times we tried to be quiet and completely still but they didn't last long. We're not exactly a quiet group of people. At one point we started naming all of the 150 Pokemon we could remember. That ended up with some pretty hilarious and possibly slightly inappropriate jokes about the attacks certain Pokemon use.

Senior year has been filled with some incredibly fun times, but this spontaneous trip up the canyon is perhaps one of my favorite moments of the school year thus far. We'll see how it compares to the Idaho trip I'm taking just later tonight. The same group of people from the Lava Lounge are going to get free Chik-Fil-A for a year by camping out in the parking of the new one opening in Boise. The Varsity Parking Lot Camping Team is in for a great couple of days.

Last YouTube video I watched: Fresh Guacamole

California Adventures

This time two weeks ago I was driving to Becca's house for a weekend of fun and delicious, sugary food. For her birthday we took a little road trip back to her home state/town. It was a lovely affair.

We embarked on the 10 hour trip late Thursday afternoon. It was an epic drive, that's for sure. We almost constantly blared Imagine Dragons, singing along to every song and hanging on to Dan Reynolds' every word. A great number of my friends were seeing ID on Saturday in Salt Lake City so the best Becca and I could do was listen to their songs on a permanent loop.

Dinner Thursday night was from Domino's in St. George. We split a large cheese pizza, covered in parmesan, as we drove through the Virgin River Gorge. At this point it was pretty dark so we didn't get to enjoy its beauty until coming home on Sunday. Besides the pizza, Thursday night really was uneventful, though. I saw Las Vegas for the first time. It's such a strange place. We didn't stop there but seeing it from the freeway was sufficient enough for me. We rolled into Becca's neighborhood around two and promptly fell asleep.

We missed this sort of thing the first time around.

Friday was probably the most chill day I've experienced in a long time. I got up late, did some homework, and ate homemade bread and french toast. After we ate, Becca, her mom, her sister and myself went to some fabric store. Becca's sister is making her a TARDIS quilt. How neat is that?! We spent quite a lot of time debating over what the right blues were; Becca and I take TARDIS blues very seriously. After that . . . I'm not quite sure what we did. I think we just went back to Becca's and bummed around. Becca's dad and brother-in-law had the football game on so I watched that with them until it was time to go to Becca's friend's wedding reception. (It was pretty chill, though I certainly enjoyed the chocolate fountain, as did Lily, and getting to meet some of Becca's friends, people I've heard a lot about but only met on this trip.)

Friday night was probably my favorite part of this jaunt to California. We went and hung out at the beach for a few hours. It was a full moon so everything was lit up. It was just Becca, her friend Jeff and myself, which was really nice. We climbed on the lifeguard stand and sat up there for quite some time, just talking and enjoying the ocean air. It wasn't the least bit cold or breezy. Once we left the beach we drove home on the Pacific Coast Highway with all the windows down. That was awesome and so thoroughly collegiate. It was the kind of careless night you don't get all that often in college.

Saturday was Becca's 21st birthday! We woke up quite late, I think after 10 and maybe almost 11. We immediately went downstairs to enjoy a plethora of German pancakes. Right after that Becca was recruited to help finish up the pulled pork for that night's dinner and I was recruited to learn how to drive stick shift. Becca's dad taught all four of his kids and many of their friends as well. My own brother attempted to teach me about two years ago but things never really worked out. With my little bit of experience I seemed to pick it up pretty fast this time around. It was the first time I actually drove on city streets too! It's exciting to be able to say that I am completely capable of driving a car with manual transmission.

We spent most of the afternoon watching Community and in the late afternoon it was time to swim! I enjoyed that thoroughly, having not been swimming in a pool in a long time. We were there for a couple of hours and then it was time to eat. Becca and I had somehow not eaten since that morning so pulled pork sandwiches, salad, chips & salsa, raspberry lemonade and marble cake was just what we needed. Everything was delicious and I'm pretty sure Becca and I each ate at least 2.5 sandwiches.

That night was the real treat of the day. Becca's friend's Jeff's older brother is a manager at the Disney Hotel and so Jeff invited us to watch the fireworks from the lounge on the top floor of one of the buildings! Pretty epic to say the least. We got free snacks and drinks too!

Once the magic was over, the three of us walked around Downtown Disney for a while. That was also great fun and I almost purchased a $60 hoodie. IT WAS BUZZ LIGHTYEAR FOR PETE'S SAKE.

But I was a good little student and did not. We took plenty of random pictures in the big Disney store, though. Perhaps most importantly, I found out why those random spinning toys are so cool, but that's only if they're R2-D2. Those ones make R2 noises!

Sunday it was time to return to Utah. Becca and I enjoyed a very pleasant drive back. For the first two hours or so we listened to some nice church music, but after that it was basically all Imagine Dragons all the time. We seriously sang for about eight hours straight. We both almost lost our voices. Worth it? Most definitely.

The trip overall was a marvelous thing and I'm so pleased Becca and I get to have such adventures.

Last YouTube video I watched: Disneyland Halloween Party (We missed being at Disney at the same time as the Shaytards by a day! How crazy is that?!)

From perfect to not to perfect again

I spent all summer longing to return to Utah not for the school or because I missed the mountains or because I was sick of Wisconsin (on the contrary, I will never not love being in Wisconsin), but because the people I've met and continue to meet are all amazing. I made plans, both daydreamed and real. I hoped for the best and practiced a lot of patience.

Then I came back to Utah and things were, quite honestly, perfect. Everything worked out better than I had ever imagined. I was living a dream. For about two weeks my life was golden. I never expected to return and feel as if my life was turning into everything I had ever thought I wanted it to be, but that's what happened.

And then it no longer was.

But here's the thing: it wasn't perfect anymore, but things were still incredibly great; things still are incredibly great. I've already learned a lot, both about myself and about life, in the first two weeks of school, though not much of it actually pertains to school itself. The most important things I've learned and continue to learn?

-It's okay and sometimes completely warranted to be brutally honest with people.

-I'm worth more than the amount of time it takes to write out a text message and anyone who thinks otherwise? Well, they can go ask Trent and Jeff what they think of texting when real talking is what's needed. (Here's a little secret: Trent's not cool with it. At all. And Jeff is just full of disappointment.)

-Sleep is not really all that necessary when you're a single college kid.

Wednesday night I didn't get back to my apartment until after 7. I didn't eat dinner until 9. I didn't go to bed until nearly 1:30 when I should have and could have been asleep by 12:30.

Yesterday I woke up less than an hour before my 9:30 class. I didn't get back to my apartment until after 9. I went to bed earlier than I did on Wednesday but probably not by much.

But I wouldn't trade any of that for anything.

It's all in the spirit of being a single college kid. On Sunday I was talking w/ my friend Cameron about relationships and friends and just being single. He vehemently defended his right to be single, even though he's seriously dating someone. It isn't so much single life he loves but more so the carefree nature of being a college student in general. He's got roommates he loves and doesn't have to "schedule" spending time with them, which is something I cherish as well. I'm not opposed to this single collegiate life by any means, but it was just interesting to hear someone else's perspective on a life that is both similar and terribly different than my own. It just so happened that Wednesday and Thursday turned into the kind of days that epitomize my collegiate life.

On Wednesday I was on campus only until 5 since my evening class got out early; it's supposed to end at 6:30. Walking home I ran into a girl from home who just got back from her mission. Since it's been a year and a half we talked for almost an hour.

Then I booked it over to Mckenna's since she was opening her mission call! She's going to the Czech/Slovak mission. It's going to be quite the adventure. I'm excited to add yet another person to my list of people I've written letters to.

By the time I got home from Mckenna's, I had to finish a couple assignments that took way longer than they should have. And suddenly it was 9 and I had not eaten since 10 in the morning. I made a legitimate stir-fry and hunkered down to finish the rest of my homework before Becca's friend Karina came to spend the night. At that point we went to watch a couple episodes of Doctor Who w/ boys from the ward.

Upon our arrival back at our apartment, Becca, Karina and I ended up talking for a good long while before I decided I needed sleep more than social interaction.

And then suddenly it was already time to get up. Even though I still felt like I could sleep for another hour, I started getting ready for the day. It was a chill day for me clothing-wise. I mean, every day is chill clothing-wise but yesterday especially. The day was full of classes and work. On Thursdays I work till close which is not that bad really but just slightly uneventful once 7 passes.

Becca and I then went on a little night run. The plan was to go just over a mile because Becca doesn't run much (read: ever) so off we went. It was a beautiful night for it. (Only 145 more miles to go!) Eventually Becca got really thirsty and we were super close to Jeff's house so the only solution was to stop. I'll use any excuse to see Jeff and his roommates so I was more than happy. Long story short, we ended up staying for over two hours and hypothetically planned around 3 different food runs that never actually happened.

So what was perfect just a few weeks ago completely transformed into a new kind of perfect. It's funny how life works out like that. I still have lots of plans for this semester, both daydreamed and real once again, but they've shifted a bit. Some are the same. Others are completely different. I'm still hoping for the best and my patience is always being used.

Life isn't everything I thought I wanted it to be. I'm pretty sure it's better.

Last YouTube video I watched: Spaghetti Symphony

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?

Today is Wednesday

I have less than nothing to blog about tonight. Or so it feels. I've been trying to think all day of SOMETHING. And I've got nothing. It's a weird thing. This doesn't happen to often.

But here's something: Becca returns in a few days! You all remember Becca, right? Here's a cute picture of us in case you don't.

Totes presh, right? That picture was taken in "her" kitchen this spring. It is now OUR kitchen. Pretty cool, I know.

Last YouTube video I watched: My Spanish Kitchen

I have but few words, so here's a list instead

So as you'll remember, Tuesday I was too tired to blog so I had Jordan do it for me. That was a great decision.

He wrote about a perfect summer day. I'm trying to come up w/ something to rival that but it just doesn't exist right now. I'm not sure if yesterday was perfect but it was quite brilliant as far as Wednesdays are concerned. I have no complaints regarding yesterday, but it's not a day that's easily described. 

It's best to call it awesome and leave it at that. It really was awesome for a lot of reasons too. So have a list of why yesterday was awesome. (This reminds me of when 5AG was still completely a thing. I miss those days.)

• At Ikea, Jordan and I found the perfect couch.
• Visiting Ikea in general. (The Swedes know what they're doing when it comes to interior design, that's for sure.)
• I had a grilled cheese panini w/ pesto as part of my dinner. 
• Stacy shared her mango with me.
• We, as in Stacy and I, saw The Hunger Games at the dollar theatre and it was as epic as ever.
• Becca told me she's starting to make her unique brooch bouquet for her wedding. Let's not forget that Becca IS NOT GETTING MARRIED. At least not anytime soon. Like, at all.

I mean, any day that includes Ikea is automatically wonderful so all the other stuff is just bonus niceness.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, my friends. School fast approaches.

Last YouTube video I watched: 1st Day of School Outfits

Exciting fall plans

So today I set up an interview for a job in the library on campus. It's going to be on Thursday afternoon. I return to Utah Thursday morning. This will be an interesting interview, that's for sure. I'm sure doing interviews on little sleep always end well, right? I'm excited about the possibility to work in the library, though. I think that would solidify my nerdiness forever, as if I needed more help with that.

Other things that will make fall semester great are as follows:

-A hopefully decent football team.

-Road tripping to California w/ Becca for her birthday (CAN YOU SAY DISNEYLAND?!)

-Becca teaching me how to properly drive stick. She might be more excited about this than I am.

-Longboarding down the canyon. I've missed my longboard a great deal this summer. Literally the last day I was in Utah I went w/ my roommate Stacy and our friends Stopher and Joe. It was the perfect way to end spring term but only made me sadder to leave my board behind. Also, I'll most definitely be getting some shave ice w/ Stoph after a longboarding session. It's now a must.

-Living w/ 3 awesome roommates. For the first time ever I know all the people I'm living with and it's going to be wonderful. We all get along in such a great way. It's basically magical.

It's a shame this post couldn't be longer but on account of how it's one minute to midnight I best be ending it here.

Last YouTube video I watched: Instagram - The Musical

Microwave or oven?

The other night after getting home from work I was video chatting it up w/ Becca. We were talking about boys and friends and Utah and all that jazz. She brought up an analogy she learned at church regarding how boys and girls fall in love differently. 

Essentially, boys are microwaves because they "heat up fast" and fall in love quickly. They know pretty early on whether or not they are interested in a girl. Girls, on the other hand, are ovens because they take a little longer to get things rolling. It takes a greater amount of time for girls to become interested/fall in love.

And that's the whole analogy. (When she told me that I was waiting for it to be more in-depth but that's all there is, at least at this point. I was slightly underwhelmed.)Becca said she is an oven that never gets fully heated up. And I replied something along the lines of, "Well, yeah, you've gotta preheat to, like, 450. That takes a lot longer than just 325 like most other girls."

So is it true? Are boys microwaves and girls ovens? I'm inclined to say yes. Of course there are exceptions to most every analogy, especially when it comes to dating/love. But I feel like it's a pretty common occurrence for a guy to say "I'm going to marry that girl!" pretty early on in a relationship, and then BOOM. Roasted. They do get married.

In just about 3 weeks I'll be back in the world of crazy love and relationship analogies. Heading back to Utah is always fun. And the fun for me starts bright and early with a 6 am flight, so if any of my Utah friends happen to see me that day, expect some very tired conversation. Luckily, the first person I'll see upon my arrival is Jeffrey and he won't care how tired I am.

Last YouTube video I watched: The Science of Lying

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

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